His Only Captive
by ScampsCute
Summary: Vaas is the pirate lord of Rook Islands. He's vicious, brutal and perilous, and when one young woman catches his eye, he keeps her for himself. Will his new distraction encourage this pirate lord to bend the rules, in this treacherous game? And will his personal captive cease to escape from him? Or even, will he cease to escape from her? VaasxOC tw: violence, rape, sexual themes,
1. Bound

***This is a Fan Fiction intended for entertainment purposes. I do not own any of the Far Cry characters***

***WARNING. Contains strong adult language, themes and suggestions. Advisable age would be 16+***

***Thank you so much for giving this Fan Fiction a read! I hope you like it. I am open to criticism, and would like to know if this fanfic works well, so i would love it if you would ****please leave reviews, if you can, which will give me feedback on this story and help improve my writing. x Enjoy ~**

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Gagged, bound and blindfolded. The squealing hostages squirmed fretfully in the tight, unforgiving coils of rope that was yanked around their tender wrists. Their skin was red raw, due to the sandpaper knots of rope that only got tighter when you moved. The familiar sting of tears pricked at their eyes and streamed down their burning cheeks, like rain water on glass windows, making their skin glow red. The knot of the damp cloth that dug into the back of their heads made the hostages wince and struggle uncomfortably - in which they burrowed their soaking bodies into the sand that scratched at their skin. The youngsters quivered with terror as the savage island inhibitors surrounded them like fearsome beasts in a story book, and the captives would squawk and cough every time the animals kicked a cloud of gritty golden sand at their faces with their hard army boots. Their fear amused them. Whenever they quivered or squealed, the beasts would sneer and bellow out their abrupt laughter, firing their guns into the air, at which the prisoners would leap in fright and scream against their soaked rags and sway their trembling bodies in the sand.

"L…let us go, you b..bastards!" one of them spat out, not yet gagged, trembling nervously, tunnelling his body into the soft sand, and hunching his body into a ball - dreading what sort of reaction would come next.

"What did he fucking say?" one of the islanders snapped, lifting his gun into the air. The others fell silent and bowed their heads at his presence. He scanned his narrow stony eyes at islanders and sauntered over to the young man who just bravely objected, shaking his head in aggravation and twiddling his fingers around his gun. He crouched beside the man and glared at him, holding the gun up beside his ear. The man trembled rapidly, quivering like a new born pup left alone outside in the cold breeze. His breathing was heavy and loud, and he struggled to take in a proper breath, wheezing briskly like a sick animal.

"What the fuck did you say?" he challenged, his voice was hoarse and hostile, and was enhanced with thick Spanish accent. The man pursed his lips to speak, but they trembled and no words would escape them. "Hey!" he was screaming now, his face nearly touching his. His penetrating voice emitted panic and horror to all of the captives, and the man quivered even more and sobbed – the tears flooding from his eyes and down his cheeks like a falling waterfall. "Answer me you chicken fuck! Don't try and threaten me! I'll paint the beach with your fucking brains you little shit! What the fuck did you say?!"

The sobs continued – his whole body juddering severely. He shook his head quickly, spluttering out some words, "p..p..please…"

"Spit it out you blubbering fuck! You have something to say? Fucking say it to me! Say it! Say it to fucking me!"

"Bastard! Let us…g…go!"

"Disrespect eh? I'll show you some fucking respect."

The native jumped to his feet, and leaned forward, resting the mouth of the gun on the man's dripping forehead.

"F..fuck!" he screeched, trembling and spluttering out more shaken sobs.

"Take off their fucking blindfolds! They will witness this!"

The other islanders nodded and harshly whipped the cloth from the captive's eyes and heaved the rags from their mouth, letting it hang loosely around their necks. There was eight in total –not including the man with a gun to his head- five men and three women. They were all dressed in summer clothes and but one girl wore only a skimpy golden bikini. All were drenched with salt water from the sea. They all nervously scanned around them and whimpered with dread, and glared over to the man – their eyes swelling and their bodies shuddering.

The rag was harshly removed from the whimpering man with a gun to his head. His eyes were swollen and red. He blinked quickly, trying to hold back more tears that were desperate to flood his skin.

"Now," the inhabitant with the gun on his skin said calmly "we're going to play a little game, very simple. Yeah?"

The man nodded, biting down onto his trembling lip.

"If you, can count to three, without stuttering or weeping, you may live. Fair?"

He winced, and more tears streamed from his glassy eyes.

"Ah ah, no whining remember. It's just three numbers, you know? One, two, three. It's fucking easy, yeah? Go, count for me."

The man steadied himself, gulping and breathing in and out, in and out, trying to control himself and reconcile his tears and weeps.

"Come on! Fucking count! Or I will blow your brains all over your fucking friends!"

He gulped again, trembling more. He breathed in deeply and glanced up to the islander, "One."

"Good. Two More."

His lips moved; no sound escaped. He tried again, "Two."

"One more amigo."

He smiled, panting and trembling. The man watched and rolled his eyes.

"T...th…"

The man erupted into yelps and wails; his friends sobbed also and squirmed in their ropes.

The native sighed, standing to his feet and shaking his head. "That's a disappointment. That's a fucking disappointment hermano."

He pointed the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Bang. The man fell to the floor like a sack of flour, and his friends screamed and wriggled, burning their skin against the rope on their wrists. His blood sank into the sand and spread, creating a small red river that flowed towards his whimpering friends.

"Fucking bastard!" one squawked.

"Murder!" another squealed.

"Crazy fucker!"

"Hey! Shut the fuck up!" he roared back, waving his gun at them, ferocity building up in his face, the veins in his neck pulsating, "or you will end up like your blubbering friend. Shut the fuck up!"

"Vaas," another islander called.

"What!" he shrieked, nearly striking the guy in the throat.

"Don't you think we should take them up now?"

"Erm, excuse me Benny, but I call the fuckin' shots here okay! Did you fail to fuckin' notice that?" The pirate shook his head and backed away, returning to the swarm of pirates that stood beside the trembling hostages. Clicking his tongue, Vaas turned his head away from the hushed pirate and lifted is head, loudly howling at everyone, "Grab a hostage! We're taking them up."

Suddenly his attention was detained, "Wait, not that one." he barked, pointing over to one of the captives that an islander had tight hold of. The pirate had a red, frayed bandana wrapped around his mouth and his eyes were hidden with black rounded sun glasses. He suddenly froze, and his wide bulky body tensed. Vaas moseyed over to him, and snatched the captive off him, grabbing her by the arm and heaving her towards him.

"Hey don't you touch her!" one hostage screamed, struggling against the grasp of his capturer.

"Hey!" Vaas bawled back, firing his gun onto the sand near his feet, "don't fucking speak! Shut the fuck up!" He turned back to the islander, and in a sudden more relaxed tone, he said softly, "this one is a pretty sight." His huge hands cupped her face. She grimaced and flashed her rounded golden eyes away from his glance. "I will take this one." "Let's go!"

Vaas wasn't a typical looking islander. He looked different - a savage, a malevolent barbaric psychopath with his hard callous face and his coarse tanned skin. His thick dark eyebrows arched wickedly above the heavy dark circles beneath his cold brown eyes. The sides of his head were shabbily shaved but down the middle - at the top of his skull - grew a thick ebony Mohawk that made his look a lot more fiendish and despicable. Another feature that made him look like a wild, feral brute was is thick facial hair below his mouth and on his chin, and the circular ebony piercing in his ear lobes. The most startling feature he bore was the fearsome jagged scar that traced from his eyebrow all the way to the back of his head - which meant looking at this savage in the eye was difficult to achieve. Something about his peculiar savage features made this man a lot more frightening. Suppose if he didn't have those features, he wouldn't be so bad.

He walked with his arm wrapped around the girl. Her damp brunette hair spiralled in tight, tatted ringlets down her back. Her blue t-shirt and black demin shorts were damp from the sea, and clung onto her skin. She shivered at his touch, and tried to free her hands from the rope, but to no avail.

"So," he chuckled "what are you youngsters doing on my island, eh? Chica? Come here to piss on my sunshine?"

"Fuck you."

"Oh!" He laughed, rocking her body with his robust arms and shaking her, "I see this one isn't just looks. She has a spark in her. Ha, fun, fucking great." "So chica, does my island please you? Did you have fun basking in my sun, and swimming in my blue sea?"

"Sorry, didn't realise that the sea and sun belonged to you."

"Ha! This one really shows no fear. You show no fuckin' fear. I'm impressed. A women who has more "balls" emblematically speaking, than her male comrades'. Fucking crazy. Me and you are going to have a swell of a time, aren't we chica?"

"You dare fucking touch her!" the same hostage spat. His capturer walloped him across the head with his gun, making him weak in the knees.

Vaas' eyes widened, and his veins throbbed, "I'm sorry but was I fuckin' speaking to you?!" he screeched, "hey! Speak again and I'll cut off your fucking tongue and feed it to the dogs!"

He squeezed the girl he was cradling and hugged her closer, still striding with his arm snaked around her waist. "So," he whispered, his warm breath grazing against her ear, "what is your name chica?"

At first she didn't respond, she glared at the floor, clenching her jaw and barring her lips tightly shut. Vaas' grip around her tightened, and she yelped quietly, her body jolting in his embrace.

"Can you just answer my fuckin' question," he warned, his voice imitating but quite sincere - compared to how he spoke to the others before - "and tell me your name sweetheart, like a good girl? Otherwise, boom. I might have to blow a bullet through your skull for being so fuckin' rude to me. Yeah? So what is your name?"

"Katerina. My...friends call me Kat."

He sniggered again, sticking out his pink tongue and grinning, glancing at his other comrades for a response.

"Katerina," he sang in a cynical manner, rolling his tongue as he spoke, "Katerina, yes, yes I think that suits you."

He chuckled roguishly and brought up his arm and stroked her on the head – as if she was his pet - curling his fingers in her wet, salty hair.

"Oh no chica, you're all wet! Why are you all wet?"

"Well you did blow up our ship."

Again he hooted, nuzzling his head playfully, and brusquely, into her neck. She flinched her head away – he gript onto her arms firmly and tugged her closer, but now lifting his head.

"Ahh, so I did. But why be on my ocean in the first place chica? I don't like it when holiday yachts think it's perfectly fine to come at drift on my ocean, when I am fuckin' here watching it."

"Take a guess, we were on a fucking holiday!"

He glanced to his comrades, lifting his arm and pointing his finger at the girl, "I like this one," he exclaimed with wicked laughter. He pushed her in front of him and trailed behind her, keeping a tight grasp onto her arm as she stumbled up the hill. Her bare feet burrowed into the muddy ground and caught on a few bristly sticks and hard rocks. She winced and lifted her feet in the air, bobbing up and down as she shook her foot.

Vaas rested his head on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "you know, i'm guessing you think, you and your whimpering friends regret getting on that shining yacht. You regret picking my island for your wondrous little _holiday. _You thinking how if you went to another place, everything would be perfection. Or you wishing that you just stayed at home, with your mama and papa, curled up in the safety of your bed. But you know whats funny chica? I'm glad that you washed up on my shore and I'm glad that I shot down your shinning perfect little yacht with my shinning perfect little bazuka. I really am. Because now, chica, now the fun begins. You see sweetheart, you're on my island now, and on my island, I create all the fun." His hands trailed down her waist, as he nipped at the lobe on her ear. She snapped her head away and shook him off, he chuckled under his breath, slapping his hand frivolously across her ass. She jerked into the air, and scowled, again he chortled, sticking out his tongue, pushing her forward. "You and me... you and me are going to have an explosion on fun."

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**If you have made it to the bottom of this chapter, well thank you :) I would really love to know if you thought that this chapter was good enough - was it intriguing, true to Vaas' character, etc. So, please leave a comment/review telling me your thoughts, (though please be kind). Thank you! x **


	2. The Road

Vaas's men and their prisoners reached a rocky sandy road, engraved with car tracks and overrun with small grey stones and empty bullets. The lush green grass beside the road was tall and overgrown, and in it sprung wild red, green and yellow flowers and exotic plants. A flock of skittish brown deer were grazing on the thriving grass a few metres from the islanders and their captives. Suddenly their pointed brown ears twitched and their heads bolted up from the ground. Spotting the armed men they rose to their hind legs and quickly scurried away into the wild brush. From the crazy winding road raced two trucks – one being much larger and more confined than the other - and in it were more of Vaas' men. Yellow dust flew up into the air like a cloak of thick smoke and clung onto the captives, making them cough and shudder.

"Pack em' up!" Vaas ordered at full volume, swinging his arm in the air to the direction of the large truck. He still had a tight grasp onto the girl wearing the shirt and shorts, and kept his arm securely around her, observing as his men tossed the hostages abruptly into the truck, bawling brutishly at them in Spanish whilst locking their guns on them.

"Close it up, make sure it secure!" he ordered again, slowly moving backwards, towing the girl by her arms to come with him.

"Wait," she muttered, scanning to her capturer and then at the truck loaded with her susceptible friends, "am I not going with them?"

Vaas chuckled, and hugged her huskily as she stood motionless and bewildered, glaring with wide eyes at the captives who glared back at her, fighting against their taut, burning ropes. "Oh no chica," he laughed, resting his head on her shoulder, his breath grazing on her neck, "I would much prefer if you came with me. Wouldn't you? No?" Snappishly he roughly tugged her back, making her stagger and trip over her feet. He tittered silently, towing her towards the other truck, holding her firmly by her small waist. Two men were already in the back of the truck, as there was no room inside. Vaas pushed her up to the bar of the truck, lifting her into the air so she could get in. One islander, grasped her by the arm and hauled her up. Though there was no hospitality in that manner; as soon as she was half over he let go thus causing her to abruptly plummet into the car and crash on the metal surface. She let slip a tiny squeal as she fell, but quickly silenced herself. The pirates looked down to her and chuckled amongst themselves. Vaas peered up, and snapped something at them in Spanish in a severe, bitter tone, and they shut up – kicking there feet just as a child does after scolding, and twiddling their thumbs around their guns that pointed to the car floor. In one quick and powerful leap Vaas was in the truck, leaping over the metal bar like a tiger or lion, and landing perfectly and steadily on his feet. His heavy, dusted black army boots harshly hit the steel surface, and made the truck thump – causing the passengers to go off balance faintly. The girl remained on the floor in a corner, near to were Vaas stood, hugging her body and glaring at her bare feet -which now bore some small scratches- refusing to peek up at the barbaric pirates that had seized her and her friends.

The road was bumpy, and to make it worse the drivers were wild. Speeding hastily around bends and down stretching golden paths, as if they were on a race track. Somehow, these animals in the back managed to stand, resting there palms on the rusted metal sides of the truck for just a little support. But, Vaas didn't hold onto anything, and yet he remained so still, like a statue, as if the truck wasn't moving at all. His arms were tightly folded, and he mostly glared coldly at the floor of the car, and occasionally glanced up to the horizon to check where they were. The hostages were helpless. Vaulting up and down in the cars, falling onto their backs and stomachs and bruising their skin as they crashed harshly into the metal. The islanders laughed at them, mocking them as they pointed at them with their guns, as if they were ludicrous creatures in a confined zoo. Katerina tried to steady herself, struggling to grip onto the soiled metal floor of the truck or the small corroded metal walls, trying to prevent herself from bumping into Vaas' leg, petrified that he might strike her in anger, or even shoot her dead.

Katrina recoiled to the sudden sound of Vaas' sudden bark, "¡vendar los ojos de ellos!"

Inside the other truck his men nodded quickly, tugging a dark cloth from their pockets. Some hostages shuffled away as they crouched beside them. A hostage, which short black hair, sea water dripping from the small strands of his salty hair, fell to his back and booted the islander in the stomach, and he fell to his knees dropping his gun, coughing. Vaas snapped his head to his direction and screamed, punching the truck with his clenched fist. The two trucks halted suddenly, and the hostages fell forward.

"Don't touch the little fuck, I will deal with him!" he roared, swinging his body angrily out of the truck whilst one hand steadied himself on the metal surface, "Carlos get the fuck up!" he growled as he stamped over to the truck, his face burning; the veins in his neck pulsating heavily against his smouldering tanned skin, and his hands clasped into tight fists - blood dripping from his knuckles.

By this time the man had been kicked out of the truck and into the sand. He kneeled, his body calm as his glared into the dirt.

"Wanna fuck with me do you?" Vaas spat, crouching down, so his face drew close to his. The man refused to look into his burning circular orbs, or even acknowledge his infuriated face. "Hey! Look me in the fucking eye!"

The man glanced up, and strangely Vaas chuckled.

"You want to fight do you?" he teased, pulling out a sharp, jagged knife and swaying it in the air beside the man's face, which now began to drip with sweat.

He laughed, "I'll show you a fucking fight!"

Harshly his seized his wrists and slashed his knife through he frail rope, catching his skin so that blood poured onto the sand and down his arm, yet the man failed to notice. Vaas leaped to his feet, lashing the knife onto ground and stretching his neck and arms.

"Come on, if you think you're the one with the fucking dick! I'll fight you with my bare fucking hands. See what type of man you fucking are!"

The man grunted, and held up his fists and dived for the first swing. Vaas dodged swiftly. A game of cat and mouse. Vaas threw in his fracturing ruthless punch and caught him in the check. Again and again he struck. Thick red blood, seeped from the captive's lips and from his swelling purple cheek. He hit him again. His ear rang like a siren but he didn't stop trying. Again he struck him. Blood began to gush out from the corner of his eye. A strong blow to the jaw. The bleeding man scowled and quickly swung his arm towards the barren pirate. The corners of his blooded mouth stretched into a small smile, got him…or not. His eyes widened, and he noticed that Vaas had lifted his robust arm up above his head, blocking his blow. The enraged pirate viciously snarled and dashed towards him, clutching on the collar of his grey, blood stained shirt. "You got blood on my shirt you piece of fuck!" he roared with atrocious fury. Grabbing tightly onto his shirt his swung his head backwards and then quickly forwards, smashing him brutally on the head with his. Again and again and again until… he fell. He flopped to the floor like a dying fish and remained there, limp and lifeless.

One girl huddled to her friend, "You killed him!" she cried, tears flooding down her cheeks.

"Carlos," Vaas called in a much calmer tone, standing over the body, "drag this meat sack into the car, and throw me a fucking towel, or a shirt, something to wipe his foul blood off my face."

Carlos and two other pirates, jumped out of the truck and grasped onto the limbs of the body. Carlos had lobbed a red bandana to Vaas, as he began to saunter towards the other truck. After scooping up his knife he leaped back inside as his men placed the beaten body back in the truck. They then coiled a cloth around the other captive's eyes as instructed. The trucks accelerated, this time slower, and sped up the path.

Katerina glanced up to Vaas, her eyes wide and full of horror, she clenched her teeth and gulped. Blood slowly dripped from his forehead down his nose. Thick, red and horrifying. Vaas glanced down at her, clutching onto the bandana in his bleeding hand.

"Frightened are you?" he teased, lifting the bandana to his head but not yet touching his skin.

"Don't worry chica," he soothed, curling his lip into a roguish smile, "it's not my blood."

She gulped again, flashing her eyes away from him. He cackled, and dabbed the hot blood from his skin. "Do you have something you want to say Chica?"

She glanced up at him, coiling her palms around her arms, and shook her head vigorously.

"Are you sure?" He teased her, dragging out his words in an attempt to make her tremble. She shook her head again. He chuckled, stretching the corners of his mouth out wide, and then he crouched down beside her, still clutching onto the bloody bandana in his left hand. The car sped over a rock, making the vehicle jolt into the air. Katrina fell forward, nearly colliding into Vaas. Or did she knock into Vaas? An accidental blow that was out of her control. She was not on the floor, face first in the cold metal, and she did not stretch out her palms to stop herself. Her heart may have stopped at that moment, she stiffened and slowly peered up. Her face was nearly touching his, her unsteady breath hitting the skin on his face. She glared into his dark brown orbs and gulped heavily. Her lip trembled, her heart raced and her head throbbed with anxiety. Vaas glared at her, holding her by her arms with his rough hands smeared with her friend's warm blood. "Sorry," she breathed, hardly able to let the words escape her lips. He chuckled and pushed her backwards, so she was balanced again. She looked up to him with a cocked eyebrow, and he raised his in return.

"What chica? Did you expect me to hit you?" he whispered, and snickered. She swallowed her breath and he chuckled again, tracing his thumb down her cheek.

He jumped up and dabbed the blood from his knuckles. Katerina stared blankly at the orange rust on the metal, her head clouded, drawing her knees up to her stomach and stroking her fingertips on her cheek.


	3. Promise

Towering black trees stretched their dark thorny arms towards each other. The rocky road waved through a grand archway, of branches and ebony leaves. The air was silent, seemed calm but felt restless. The grey grass swayed swiftly in the breeze and the moan of the wind whispered through the trees. The cars decelerated, only the artificial lights brought light to the perilous path up the steep hills. Though the night was cold and dark, the shimmering stars still glistened brightly in the sky, and the silver moon gleamed, projecting a beautiful blue glow through the trees.

Katerina peered up to the shining blue orb looking down onto her. She had lost track on how long this barbaric journey was, but the moon had not been out for long, and night had only just awoken. Vaas crouched down to her, looking up at the moon; he lent in closer to her – grazing his shoulder across her arm. His lips rested beside her ear, she shuddered at the unnerving sensation of his warm breath, and with a grin he whispered "I see I forgot to conceal your eyes." His words were discreet and chilling – like whispers of a shadow. He tilted his head to glare at her face, and her eyes snapped to his direction. "You should thank me for my gratitude," he purred "this way, you got to marvel at our moon."

Katerina now turned her head to look at him. Her eyes locked onto his for a moment, but suddenly they flashed to the ground and he released a deep chuckle. "Submissive you are not, I see."

Her eyes flashed back up to his rigid, vindictive face; parting her lips and inhaling deeply, she sternly said "no. I am not."

"That can be easily… reformed."

Her eyes widened and quickly she snapped her head away, glaring at the back of her bound hands. He chuckled and reached his fists into his back pocket.

"I'm afraid," he whispered, lifting a red rag to her eyes, "that you cannot be perceived as anything other than a captive." The cloth touched her eyes, and she gasped as he swiftly tightened the material into a not at the back of her head. His hands brushed insolently down her arms, as his hissed in her ear, "my captive." His lips burrowed into her pulsing neck, and his teeth scuffed across her velvet skin. She fidgeted in his grasp and shook her arms and shoulders vigorously. With a quiet chuckle he let go and stood up leaving her.

They reached a camp. A vast camp, overrun with savage men armed with weapons, dressed all in similar clothing – a red shirt, black army pants and grey combat boots. Perhaps a uniform of some sort? The eight captured youths in the two trucks were not the only captives here. Here a lot of men dressed in red tossed poor men and women into wooden cages, as if they were animals for the slaughter, or some were strung up by rope and attached to archways and shafts, and some were trampled and tormented, hurled into the dirt, before being herded into cages like the others.

"Right men!" Vaas called, jumping out from the truck "you know what to do with the swine."

One by one the new hostages were led through the camp, deeper and deeper inside - suffocated by the sounds of gunshots and whimpers. Two men lifted the man Vaas had had previously severely beaten, and followed the trail. Vaas stood near the entrance, watching his hostages being shoved harshly inside his camp, resting his finger on the trigger of his gun, ready for any disturbances.

"Vaas, what of this one?" Carlos, held Katerina by her arms, who wriggled in his grasp, hauling her wrists in the tight rope trying to break free. Carlos was the only one left with Vaas, and he stood in front of him waiting patiently for a response.

Vaas snapped his fingers and held out his arm, still clutching onto his gun in other hand and pointing it down to the dirt. Carlos flung the girl to him and ambled inside the camp. The girl seized the opportunity, the one second were no had hold of her. Unable to even see where she was going, she darted away, her hands still bound tightly together. Vaas laughed, catching her harshly by the arm and tugging her backwards. She yelped and squirmed in his arms.

"Where do you think you going Chica?"

"Let…me…go!" she barked, thrashing her body briskly in his arms as he laughed, and she growled irritably as she clenched her teeth.

"There she is!" Vaas screamed with laughter, lifting her squirming body into the air. She kicked her legs, and quickly shook her head endlessly, to try and remove the blindfold.

"Put me down!"

"Oh look, she's not cowering anymore!"

"Bastard!" she squealed, thrashing her body in anger.

"Okay, okay!" he snapped "Calm down now!"

"Fuck you!"

In a quick movement, Vaas dropped her tersely to the floor and crouched over her, pulling out his gun and resting the metal on her forehead. She perched herself up by her elbows, and held her breath as she sunk her teeth into her lip, shuddering at the cold metal against her skin.

"Feel that? That's my gun resting on your fucking forehead, as you lay here defenceless and blindfolded."

She gulped, and fidgeted uncomfortably in her ropes, he continued in a more bitter tone that grew with rage, "so remember Chica. You have no fucking power here! None! I'm the one with the gun, and the armed men and the muscle, okay, you have jack shit. So, remember your fucking place! Or my finger might slip and, bang! Dead. Here you do what I fucking say, when I fucking say it! So shut the fuck up!" He was screaming now – Katerina trembled, her body tense as he continued to bark viciously at her, "you're my property. You belong to me! So shut the fuck up! Do as I fucking say, and I don't wanna hear any fucking complaining or protesting. This isn't a fucking vacation anymore! It's export."

He stood up, grasping tightly onto her damp tangled hair, hauling her to her feet. She yelped, wincing at the sharp pain of her hair strands being jerked fiercely from her skull. He jerked her head towards him and hissed in her ear, "I'm sorry, is something bothering you?"

She gulped, and shaking her head she stammered, "n..no."

He chuckled, in which she stiffened. His grasp loosed from her hair, and instead he took hold of her arm and began towing her forward, towards the muffled sounds of stomping footsteps, whines and yells from drunken enraged pirates. "I'm sorry," he chuckled, "it's just looks funny, you know? Your eyes being covered like that. It amuses me, you know what I mean chica?"

"I'm afraid I don't," she replied, with her voice shaken and muted.

"Well, I guess it's just my humour then, eh?" "eh?"

She nodded her head, biting onto her inner cheek.

The sound of men laughing and howling, glass bottles clanging together echoed through the camp. Screams were now just whispers in the wind.

"Katerina! What have you done to her you bastard!" a male voice screamed, which was answered by a sharp "shut up!"

Katerina stumbled across the camp, tripping over her feet as Vaas pushed her from behind. Men whistled and howled. Vaas grinned and snaked his hands around her waist, pressing his body against her back, guiding her up a small flight of wooden stairs that were steep and uneven, up to a small hut made of wood and metal.

"Wait." He ordered, trailing around her and unlocking the rusty, red metal door, with his golden key.

He swung the door open with his index finger and cocked his eyebrow at Katerina and grinned.

"Walk forward," he ordered coldly, but she remained like stone, motionless as the breeze waved through her hair. "Do as I say," he warned. She obeyed. Slowly moving forward, carefully pointing one foot in front of the other, jumping as Vaas came behind her and grabbed onto her waist, slamming the door loudly with his foot.

"Please, I can't see…" she mumbled, trembling as Vaas traced his fingers around the borders of her face, down her neck, her chest, and across her arms.

"And does that frighten you?"

No answer parted her lips. He chuckled, and brushed his hand up her cheeks, and through her damp hair, curling her hair in his fingers. With his thumb he brushed off the blindfold and held her small chin in his fingertips. Her golden hazel eyes glared timidly at the chilling scar across his head. Her wet hair was spiralling wildly, curling messily like tree vines, and a few irritating strands clung onto the sides of her heart-shaped face. Her rounded nose was slender and slim, and her cheeks bones were high. Her bottom lip was slightly fuller than the top, but her top lip was flattering and had a defined shape to it.

She shuddered, and her lip trembled – she harshly bit down on it, in an attempt to cease it from juddering.

"You're shaking in those wet clothes, huh? Shall we get you out of them?" he teased.

Her eye brows fell, and arched over her eyes, "fuck you!" she spat, quaking as she spoke.

"Even after our little chat you persist on making a fool's decision. Looks like you're going to be a tough one to break."

Gripping tightly onto her chin, he bowed his head towards her. She recoiled but his lips lavished hers, his teeth tugging on her rouged lips crudely like an animal. Her lips parted a little as she stumbled backwards towards the wall of the shack, smashing her fists into his shoulder. He grinned, and seized the chance, rushing his tongue to inside her mouth. Suddenly he darted backwards, exploding into a deep, threating growl, stamping his combat boot angrily onto the wooden floorboards making them creek. His finger rushed up to his face, red drops of blood began to trickling from his lips. He chuckled, stepping back onto to the back of his heels as he glanced down at his fingers that were doused with his blood.

"Wow! Did you really just bite me?"

She straightened her back, flicking the hair from her face and out of her eyes. "Untie me," she ordered, breathing heavily, clenching her jaw, "and Vaas I warn you…" he voice was low and solemn "you can strike fear into me, hurt me, hurt my friends; try and destroy me. But know, I will fight. I will protest. And I will not let you easily overcome me. This I promise you."


	4. Know Your Place

"Wow, I mean wow."

Vaas stuck out his tongue, laughing, and looked around the shack, brushing his fingertips through his thick ebony Mohawk. He pulled out a cigar and a match, placed the cigar in his mouth at set it ablaze, holding it between his fingertips. He inhaled deeply, and withdrew the cigar from his lips, blowing out a thick cloud of grey smoke.

"You know," he chocked, blowing out more smoke, "I admire your courage, your lack of regard to physical fear."

He ambled towards her, laughing, bringing the cigar up to his lips and holding it there. He then took out a knife and held it on her skin. She flinched at the ice metal clawing at her, but locked her heavy glance on his face and said nothing, firmly bolting her lips together. Slowly he traced the cold knife down her chest, gentle enough not to pierce her skin, and then in between her breast. Here she struggled, shifting nervously, and grimacing at the touch. He grinned and trailed it down further, slicing the blade across the fabric of her wet blue shirt. The fabric tore easily, and Vaas grinned ripping it off her body. She shivered and jolted backwards, but Vaas clutched onto her arm and held her steady, surveying her with his stone eyes. His eyebrow raised, his eyes scanning her like a painting, a work of art for people to view at their leisure. With a grin, he placed his jagged dagger back in a black sheath attached to his pants.

"Well," he hummed, "I like what see." He removed the cigar from his lips and held it between his fingertips in his other hand.

"Fuck you!" she spat.

His clasp grew coarser, his blunt fingernails quarrying in her skin. In pain she bit her lip, and tensed her body, shuddering from his spiteful touch. "Just because I said I admire your words of courage does not mean you can get away with speaking to me in such manner! But, I'm a reasonable guy, I'll let this one pass, once!" he growled, his fierce eyes burning into her skin - she glanced up with anxiety, her eyes glassy and shiny, "Once!" he continued, bitterly jerking her closer, his expression cold and serious and cruel, "Which means, no more petty persistence, and aggravating assertions. Know your fucking place! I want respect, so I will get it, got it?" He jerked her body again, making his harsh hold even more brutal and agonizing, by tightening his grip. This time she winced, and yelped soundlessly, fighting the tears that yearned to escape from her stinging eyes.

She nodded her head rapidly, choking on her muffled whines, his head drew closer as he cocked an eyebrow, "what?" he barked - his livid face beside hers. She was glaring at his boots. The black boots, dark and ireful. Dusted with white sand and blood. She shivered to the sight, and choked more on her hidden cries. He shook her, slapping her suddenly on the arm. "Use your fucking words!" he snapped, taking one small step closer to her. Her lip trembled as she moved them, but only air would depart.

"Hey!" he barked, making her jump, "I don't have all fucking day. So fucking answer me!"

Her eyes tightened as tears flooded from them and down her cheeks, and as she cried silently her knees wobbled and her body arched. Still he had a tight hold onto her.

"Fuck!" he snapped, "Hey!"

Tilting her head away she continued to weep, though they were slightly louder and more filled with dread – the sound of a pup away from its mother. She didn't want to cry. She really didn't. She wished she could be strong, a true fighter. Strong enough physically to break free from this wretched nightmare, and strong enough mentally not to crumble into a whimpering sheep that cowered in a dark cold corner. He shook her again.

"Hey!" he roared, and then he concealed his palm against her mouth, she gasped and whined, grasping onto his rough hand as he pressed it harshly against her lips, "stop fucking crying!"

She straightened her back, looking gingerly into his dark eyes, and sniffled, swallowing any cries that strived to escape. She concentrated on her breathing, so that the trembles would stop. Her heart beat -that was a minute ago, thumbing quickly against her chest - slowed. It relaxed her, and finally she could breathe properly again. Yet, Vaas still retained a wrathful mien that startled her if she was to look at it for too long, and his palm still concealed her lips.

In nothing more than sheer gallantry, she coiled her slim fingers around his large hand and lowered it smoothly and slowly, detaching it from her lips. To her surprise, he did nothing against it, but stare in confusion and curiosity.

"I'm sorry," she whispered calmly, boldly glaring into his chary eyes, "Yes, I understand you."

His eyes assessed her face, his lips slightly parted as his eyebrow raised and his head further away than it was before. One hand, slid into the pocket of his pants, and the other brought his burning cigar to his lips – first tapping it so that the singed ends would crumble and flutter to the floor. He inhaled, then lowered the cigar and blew out a cloud of smoke that clung onto Katerina's wet skin. She grimaced, coughing, snapping her head in another direction, avoiding the suffocating smoke he was aiming at her. He snickered once under his breath and brought the cigar back to his mouth.

Katerina bowed her head, burying it into her chest, but her body remained motionless, as if she was a statue for him to marvel at. Her eyes flashed to her bound hands, and she sighed, chewing the inside of her cheek. She could see the red, inflamed marks beneath the rope where she had struggled, and she smiled at it. She was proud to see that she had made an effort, some effort to escape that had an effect.

Slam! Her head shot up, and searched the room. Vaas was not there. The dark, red rusted door was shut, and to her disappointment she heard the key turn, thus locking it. She hadn't looked around before, so now was her chance. Where was she? In a corner, besides the door was damaged wooden desk, flooded with papers, glass bottles and bullets. The wood on the desk was ruined – being the victim of many knife attacks. The wooden chair beside it wasn't in good shape either, frail and thin, as if it was whittled with a blade by someone who was jaded or aggravated. There were many glass bottles, all empty, with not a drop of fluid inside them. _Probably contained alcohol_, Katerina thought as she peered around the cold dim room. To the far corner, close to where Katerina was standing, was a bed. It was quite small – stuffed with straw and had a red blanket tossed over the top of it. In these conditions, in this dreadful place, having a bed was probably a luxury. That was when her eyes widened, as if she had seen a monster, or felt a frightening ghost tap her on the shoulder and whisper in her ear. _Was this? No, couldn't be… but what if? _Katerina slunk to the floor, her eyes still wide, her lips parted, and her face in shock. She gulped, and scratched her wrist nervously, biting anxiously on her lip. _Does this room belong to Vaas? _She thought herself, glancing over to the bed and shuddering to the thought of him lounging there. _It must be his room. Who else would be occupying here?_ _Oh god! I hope it isn't. _Her eyes scanned the room, looking for clues. Maps and documents were scattered around the room, and were stuck randomly on walls with a rusty grey pin. There was a small chipped wooden wardrobe, with the door left ajar, and inside… inside were copies of the same red, low-cut vest Vaas had worn, and two more pairs of combat boots and another pair of army pants. Now she knew. She was in the same room that Vaas slept, worked, ate and… she shuddered, not wanting to imagine what other affairs most likely occurred in this horrid place. _Why he is keeping me here?_ Katerina thought, her head buried in her arms, _why didn't I go with the others, with the other girls? What does he find so fascinating about me, to keep me for himself? I tremble to the thought of what he could…_

Disrupting Katerina from her thoughts, the door swung open. She snapped her head up to look, and quivered, bringing her knees up to her chest and squeezing onto them tightly. In the doorway stood a dark, tall, terrifying figure, and from the figure, blood dripped loudly onto the floor.


	5. A Little Lesson

The captive struggled in his ropes, his eyes anxiously scanning around the camp from the small, wooden cage he was confined in. His blindfold was removed once he was tossed in here, though frantically inspecting the surrounding didn't do much good, as the area was too sheltered and it was too dark to see anything of use. His hands were strung up above his head, onto the cage bars, and were tied in tight, maiming knots around his wrists.

"Fuck!" he stammered, as he tugged his wrists, grunting under his breath as he tried to move.

"Grant!" he whispered sharply, "Grant! Wake up!"

The man opposite him, lobbed in the same cage, was also bound to the cage walls. His red t-shirt was doused in dry blood that had been dripping from his swollen face. He winced at the sight. Purple swollen eyes, and a battered, bloody lip. His cheek was badly bruised too – swollen and discoloured - and he had several bruises and grazes flecked on his face. His hands were bound above his head, and his head bowed from exhaustion. He wasn't a small man, he was heavily built and had huge, robust arms and a tight chest. Obliviously someone who kept in shape, and still Vaas had beaten him up to this extent, exiting the scrap without a single scratch.

"Grant," he called again.

The man lifted his head, and partly opened his red, enflamed eye and looked around him, glancing up at his ropes. He went to yell but his mouth was concealed with tape. He struggled brutishly against his ropes, bellowing out muffled groans as he rattled.

"Grant, what are we going to do?" the other man blubbered, imitating Grant's moves and hauling his arms some more.

Then Grant stopped and kicked his feet, snapping his head to the left. The captive gulped, ceasing his brisk movements, and glancing over to the direction indicated.

He gript tightly onto his ropes, barring his lips shut. A fearsome brute, strode over to them, flicking a burnt cigar from his fingertips and laughing wickedly as he glanced at the two male hostages bound in the wooden cages. He came closer, snapping the sweat from his brow, and then quickly brushing his fingertips up his startling scar that went to the back of his head. He chuckled again, now closer, crouching like an animal outside the cage.

From his pocket he pulled out a phone and shook it in the air, "I have no fucking idea," he snickered, switching on the device, "how this phone survived the brutal sea."

He traced the screen with his thumb, scrolling through hidden photos and videos. His head snapped up to look at the two hostages. Vaas grinned, lifting his hand and pointing at them with his index finger. "So what do you have here? Jason?" he queried with amusement; he whistled and swung his finger over to the other captive, who scowled at him angrily, "and Grant? Correct? California boys, eh?" He chuckled, waving the phone in his hand. "Amigo," he sighed, glaring at Grant's bruised cheek with severe stony eyes, "you look like shit." He laughed, and glanced back down at the phone, and snapped, "Seriously though, you look like fucking shit." "This is a nice phone." He glanced over to Jason, who froze and burrowed his fingernails into his taut ropes, "I like this fucking phone!" He chuckled again - the corners of his mouth stretching wide as his deep crackled laughter echoed in the air – and his head snapped down again, fixated on the phone he held loosely in his palm. "Let's hope," he sang "that mummy and daddy have some pretty papers in their pockets. Meaning a lot of money, because you white boys look expensive, and I like… expensive things." He looked up coldly at Jason, lifting the phone in the air, "I'm going to keep this," he declared, laughing and standing to his feet.

Grant struggled in his ropes, and growled against the grey tape. Vaas scowled and flashed to the wooden bars, grasping onto the wood and pressing his face up against it in fury.

"What!" he roared, "What are you fucking saying? Hey! You fuck! Shut your mouth; I will fucking kill you! I will bask in your blood and then, then I will fucking slaughter your blubbering brother! No, no, no, no, I will kill your brother first! And you can fucking watch defensively as I plunged my knife into his pink, fleshly skin! Then I will get your fucking blond whore over there!" He pointed behind him; Grant continued to struggle, his face boiling, "and I will fucking murder her right after I fucked her in front of you!" Vaas was screaming now, other captives cowered at the penetrating thunder of his incensed voice, "Hey! Look me in the fucking eye! Your my bitch! I rule this fucking kindom! Shut the fuck up, or you die!"

"Oh my god," Jason whimpered, fidgeting nervously in his ropes. Vaas looked over to him, his hands locked in fists, his body like stone and boiling like a kettle ready to explode.

"What Jason? What?" he tapped his head chaotically, and fell to his knees clutching onto the wooden bars beside Jason, "what is this not fun anymore? Have I failed to entertain you? Are you not having a terrific fucking time? Tell me! Tell me! What am I doing wrong? What?" he laughed, his deep chaotic cackle sending shivers up Jason's skin, but Vaas suddenly turned more relaxed, like a completely different person had sprung from his frenzied body, "What? Do you not like your luxury hotel? I think it's pretty nice. You know, I thought I was being kind, you know, the virtuous kind of guy. Looking after you, placing you boys on the pretty soft green grass, instead of the hard dry dirt that them sorry fucks are sleeping on!" He snapped his hand behind him, indicating to more captives that were packed inside a pen in the dirt, "And what? Do I get a thank you Vaas? Some appreciation, for my… what do I call it? Humanity." His hard, feral eyes widened, and scowled into Jason's timid blue eyes for the first time. He sucked his teeth and shook his head, laughing, and mounting to his feet.

Piercing screams of terror echoed through the camp. Vaas stamped his foot angrily, kicking dirt into the air. "Does he not know when to shut the fuck up!" he roared, the veins in his neck pounding against his skin as he spun around. "You know what, bring the penitent fuck to me."

He raced back to the cage, laughing as he glared ardently at Jason, "I'm going to show you fucks something!" He laughed and skipped merrily to the blubbering man who had been dragged to Vaas' feet. He brought up his hands and pleaded, "please! Please don't kill me!"

He chuckled, brushing his hands through his thick hair. "Oh, I wont… not yet anyway."

Vaas twirled his body around to face Jason and Grant, the whimpering man on his knees behind him - a rope coiled around his neck with a pirate holding the other end. Playfully, Vaas brought out a knife and twisted it in his fingers. "This blubbering fuck," he announced, kicking the crying man with his boot, making him squeal, "never shuts the fuck up! I mean, it's fucking annoying! And you think breaking a man brutally until he can barely stand on his own two paws would hinder it. No, no, no, no please, apparently that doesn't work." Jason swallowed his breath and peered over to the man that sobbed on the ground. His face was badly beaten, purple, and swollen, and flooded with scars. It seemed deformed. Crooked, red and broken. How could he take it? Grant was no were near as beaten and enflamed as the deprived whimpering casualty, that submerged himself into the dirt.

"It gives me a headache," Vaas growled, pacing up and down, in front of his crying hostage, "I don't think you understand! It drives me fucking crazy! The screams! The fucking cries! It's okay, it's fine, I'll chill, I'll chill." He clenched onto his knife tightly and kicked his foot angrily, making the unfortunate hostage jump and whimper some more. "No! You know, I won't!" he barked viciously, spinning around and clobbering the poor man in the face with his boot. He plummeted to the floor like a bag of meat, and whined, burrowing his bleeding face into the dirt. Fiercely Vaas seized his hair, clutching onto to it harshly, and yanking him abruptly to his knees. "Here's a little lesson for you Jason, it's simple. Imagine your back in school, eh? The moral to this story kids is... do what Vaas says. Do every fuckin' thing I say, or..." Locking his fierce eyes onto Jason, Vaas snatched the man's chin and heaved it open. The man screamed; another pirate rushed to him, securing him by his shoulders. He slowly took the knife and traced it across his tongue, so it bled lightly. Tears flooded from the man's swollen eyes and his howls became more loud and distressing. Vaas scowled, and forced the blade through his fleshy, red tongue, and sliced it quickly. The tearing sound of flesh being ripped from his mouth made Jason quiver, as sweat accumulated on his brow. Blood spurted from the hostages mouth as he fell forward, chocking on the thick, sickening blood that flooded from his mouth, down his chin and neck. He coughed, spraying blood into the air. In disgust, Vaas tossed his fleshly tongue on the dirt and grimaced. He scowled and kicked the man backwards so he fell on his back, flopping like a fish out of water, still heaving and chocking on his own blood. He growled and took out his gun, "You little fuck! Look! You got blood on my shoes you motherfucker!" He perched over him, pointing the gun at his juddering body. He cocked his eyebrow and chillingly hissed "Was it worth it?"

He shot him five times in the stomach before his body stopped moving. He stood there, looking at him, blood dripping from his hand. "I'm sorry," he sighed, kicking the dead man with his boot, "I couldn't sell you like that, so… I had to kill you. No hard feeling?"

"You said you wouldn't kill him!" Jason cried, suddenly aware of what he said, he silenced himself, and glared at the floor.

"I lied," Vass laughed calmly. He shoved his gun back in his dark brown holster and examined himself. "Fuck!" he bawled, raising his arms in the air, "The motherfucker got blood all fucking over me! Fuck! Fucking Asshole!"

His head snapped up to Jason and Grant and he laughed, swaying his finger at them, "I'm gonna relax, Jason, i'm going chill, because you, moi, and your tough guy brother are going to have a lot of fun together while we wait for the money. Fuckin' exciting, eh?" He snickered, spinning around, kicking his feet and waving his hand as he sang, "Ta ta, bye, bye!"

Still chuckling corruptly he marched away into the darkness. The gruesome body was left in a pool of blood in the dirt. Other pirates ambled away, laughing and playfully taunting each other. Jason looked over to his brother for support. His pale emerald eyes were sympathetic, and scanned away from the body and up to Jason.

"Grant," Jason chocked, his lip trembling, "Grant, how on earth, are we getting out of here?"


	6. Splatters of Blood

The dark figure stood motionless in the doorway. The air was silent; the sound of blood dripping onto the floorboards echoed in the dim room. Katerina, shuddered, and drew her knees closer to her chest. Her body jerked, to the thud of the slamming door.

"There is, a light in here, you know that?" the figure chuckled, flicking a switch on the wall, "or was you afraid of moving?" Vaas stood by the door, tittering to himself whilst leaning on wall, glaring at his captive that sat frozen on the floor. He glanced down at his hand and grimaced, sauntering over to the wardrobe, near to were Katerina was left. Her wary eyes followed him, her breath heavy.

Blood trickled from his palm. It was smeared on his boots, his trousers, his red top, and his skin - on his arm and on his neck. She trembled to sight of it, it alarmed her. She had already witnessed the dreadful torments that he was willing to inflict on her friend. What else was this ferocious pirate capable of? What other despicable crimes was he willing to commit?

From the wardrobe he pulled out a grey towel, stained with splashes of blood, and used it to wipe his hand but he grunted and kicked his feet. He sauntered over to his desk, his boots dragging heavily across the floorboards, and reached for the cabinet that was above it. From that he grabbed a bottle, with clear fluid inside. Placing the towel on his desk he began unscrewing the cap; Katerina winced, taken back the strong scent. _What type of alcohol is that?_ She thought to herself, _Fuck, that's strong. I desperately hope that whatever is in that glass bottle, is nothing to him, and hardly takes effect._ She gulped to the thought. If he was bad enough when sober, how much worse would he become when intoxicated? She glared at him anxiously, hoping that the lethal bottle would never touch his lips. He rolled eyes and tipped the bottle, and small amount of the fluid splashed onto his hand and onto the floor. Katerina winced again, at the burning strong smell of alcohol that drifted in the air. The blood appeared to evaporate off his hand; Katerina gazed in wonder. First slamming the bottle on the table, he took the towel and wiped his hand clean. "Why the fuck did waste that?" he muttered to himself, lobbing the towel on the table and calmly strolling back towards the wardrobe - standing in front of it, with the broken doors ajar.

With his back to her, he flicked off the two grey cotton belts that were coiled around his shoulders, onto the floor. He then unfastened the belt around his waist and dropped it beside his feet. It crashed loudly when it hit the wood due to the heavy metal weapons crammed inside the holsters. His fingers coiled around the edge of his blood-stained top, and then he hauled the red top over his head, chucking it behind him, close to wear Katerina was siting. She glanced up at him. Her eyebrow raised; she was intrigued, noticing he had minor burns on the upper part of his body – near his shoulder and on his bicep. His skin was a canvas for several scars – she saw them on his back and on his arm. His upper body was wide, strong and robust, and even his back was muscular. Tightly wrapped around his upper bicep, near his shoulder on his right arm, was a red bandage. He had another bandage, though this one was white, swathed around his hand and wrist on the same arm, and on his wrist, on his other arm, was thick, embroidered brown leather bracelet.

With another red tank top in his hand, he whirled his body around, tilting his head at Katerina with hilarity. Hastily she flashed her head away, and glared intently at the cracks in the floorboard, not taking the risk to peer up at him.

He chuckled, "were you eyeing me, Chica? What? Do I arouse you?"

She said nothing; did nothing, but stare distantly at the wood of the shack.

"Hey," he purred softly, stepping closer, and as he did the floorboards creaked, which got her attention, but she still refused to move her head. "Hey," he repeated, "look at me." "Look at me."

Taking a breath her hazel eyes wandered, and slowly peered up to look upon him. Her head followed, slowly rotating towards him. She looked up. His body was well-built, strong and impeccable. Looped around his neck were two necklaces that hung loosely above his chest – one made from rope, and the other from embroidered black leather. His chest and stomach also had a few minor scars incised on his skin. What was the cause for the countless number of scars scored into him? How long had he had them? It made he look more savage, wild and brutal, and from the scars, she definitely knew he was not one that you would likely irate for a response, as you soon come to regret it. She glanced at his body again - considering that he never really concealed his figure, she wasn't surprised on how immaculate it was.

Forgetting who she was looking upon, she flashed her eyes away and withdrew her glance back to the floorboards. "Tut-tut," he snapped, and she peered up again, more timid and apprehensive. He glanced down to his chest and sighed, snapping his fingers he tersely barked, "Bring me the towel."

Warily she glanced over to the towel, and then back at him, her body unwilling to move.

"I'm waiting," he warned, glaring at her with impatient eyes whilst tapping his boot on the creaky floorboards.

Shakily, she rose, stumbling over her bare feet as she hobbled restlessly over to the towel. She lifted it awkwardly with both hands – as her hands were still bound – and shambled over to Vaas, stretching out her arms to give him the towel, her glassy eyes bolted on the floor.

"Look at me." He ordered with a sigh.

Biting onto her trembling lip, her eyes peered up at him. She slouched, her shoulders hunched to her neck. She glared at him nervously, awaiting his next cold command.

"You can wipe it off me."

"Sorry?" she croaked, gulping and lowering the towel.

"I said, you can wipe the blood off of me. Is that too hard for you to do?"

She barred her lip and shook her head, timidly taking one step closer to his bare, blood-soaked chest. He stood straight and studied her, waiting. Gnawing at her lip, she stretched her arm out and delicately brushed the towel over his torso, were blood had been splatted on his skin. Slowly she trailed the towel from his chest down his stomach – he inhaled deeply and slowly as the towel trailed down his torso, her delicate, slender fingers grazing against his coarse, searing skin. Glancing up, she quickly snapped her head and arm away, holding the towel apprehensively beside her legs. "Done," she muttered, glaring attentively at the blood speckled on his boots.

His finger snatched her chin, and he slowly lifted it. "What?" he whispered, glaring deeply into her frightened hazel eyes.

"It done," she croaked, coughing on her perturbed breath.

He snickered, "I forgot I left you in such a state, are you cold?"

She shook her head. She was lying, of course, she was freezing; her body was shuddering. She had been abandoned in a dark, icy shack with her hands bound, with damp hair that brusquely clung to her back and neck, wearing only a bra and heavy demin shorts that were drenched from the sea.

He cocked his eyebrow, and she shook her head again, rapidly. But then her body deceived her and she shuddered, Goosebumps emerging from her skin.

"Ha! You undeniably fucking lying to me Chica, you're shaking. You know, I don't really like it when I am being deceived."

She gulped, her lip quivering. He sighed, "Well," he said, the corners of his mouth stretching to a depraved grin, "if you say you're cold, then I will do nothing about it. So, I hope when I return here, I can saunter in, discovering that you haven't stolen… the snug, soft blanket on my bed for example. Because, you just told me that you're not cold."

He laughed, and scanned her face and body with his thin hazel eyes. His hands trailed to her wrists, she flinched, barring her lips together. His eyebrows lowered as he examined her skin. Making her jerk he snatched the blood stained towel from her grasp and lobbed it behind him. She studied him with uncertainty as he strode back to the wardrobe – hauling the cleaner red tank top over his head. He quickly bent down, scooping up the two cotton straps and winding it around his shoulder, and then securing the belt, which contained his weapons, around his waist.

His head flashed to the door, and suddenly a panting islander rushed in, standing at the doorway trying to catch his breath.

"Have you ever heard of fucking knocking?" Vaas spat as he calmly ambled over the table.

"Sorry Vaas," he replied quickly, "but we kina got a small… well, um, problem boss."

Placing his hands on his hips and clicking his tongue, he snapped angrily, "what!"

"I'm sorry Vaas, but first it wasn't me. Anyway, well… the two hostages you were speaking to before they've erm…"

"Don't fucking say Carlos! If you fucking say it!"

"They've escaped."

"Fuck!" Vaas exploded into a fearsome rage, snatching the glass bottle and launching it towards the wall, and angrily kicking the chair across the room. The glass shattered, the pieces of glass flying across the shack; the alcohol dripping from the wall onto the floor. Katerina had fell to the floor, concealing her head with her arm, quivering to the roaring thunder of his infuriated roar and the loud vibration of objects breaking and harshly hitting the walls and floors.

"Fucking cocksucker!" he bawled, drawing out his gun and charging past Carlos who stood still beside the door, glaring at the floor.

"Lock the fucking door!" Vaas bellowed back, tossing Carlos his golden key.

The door slammed shut, and it suddenly fell dark. Katerina hugged her body, unable to stop the petrified whimpers from leaving her trembling lips. Sobbing, with her back to the wall, she nestled her head in her knees, trying to block out the fearsome screams of rage and the menacing, penetrating explosions of gun shots that crackled in the air.


	7. A Chance

"Come on Kat, pull yourself together." Katerina whispered to herself, brushing her wet eyelids on her arm. Glaring at the door she slowly rose, stumbling once on her feet. She took one step, and yelped quietly, falling back onto her back. She lifted her foot, blood trickled across her toes, were a small shard of glass had pierced her skin. "Fuck!" she spat, hovering her fingertips over the glass. _Come on, just fucking pull it, it's only a piece of glass._

Clenching her teeth she yanked the glass out, biting on her lips once it was free. Her eyes scanned the floors, the walls for anything. There, beside the wardrobe was a window, small and square shaped, with the bright moonlight shining through it. She laughed in relief, shuffling over to the wardrobe. She stretched her arms up to reach it, jumping in the air. But she couldn't reach it. Beside her feet, was the chair, the chair that Vaas had lobbed in frustration. She glared at it, then at the window then at the door. She had to get away. Why would she stay? She could stay, but for what? Vaas may not kill her now, but he would surely eventually grow bored of her, and end his tedium by putting a bullet through her skull. She shook her head angrily to the thought, _No_! She mused, _no, I'm leaving this horrific place. _

She picked up the chair, pushing it with her arms, and quickly positioned it directly below the window, checking the door. She watched it restlessly, expecting Vaas to barge in unexpectedly and… she shook her, _no, no, nothing is going to happen. Nothing is going to happen because I am escaping this. _

Punching the rigid window with her fist she managed to get it open. She checked the door one final time and bit her lip, grasping onto the edge of the window with her fingertips and hauling herself up - her bare feet scrambling up the walls, and her arms resting on the edge. Half of her body was out. Inspecting her surrounding she breathed in and out quickly, then held her breath, using her arms to haul herself from the window. Bang. Her body collapsed harshly on the ground, her head in the dirt. Staying hidden on the floor, she checked around her, scanning every direction swiftly. She shuffled over to a rock, it was sharp and rigid. Still checking her surrounding, quickly she placed her wrists on the rock and rapidly moved her wrists back and forth, cutting the rope until it was free from her skin.

She shook her hands and slunk towards a boulder. She hid behind it, listening to the whispers of the pirates.

"Well, where the fuck did they go!" one screamed. His voice was so shrill, and so brash that you couldn't hear the other pirates. Their words were sheer whispers of child, compared to this enraged man. She listened intently. "Well go!" he snapped, his voice riled and agitated, "Look for them you useless fuck! Do you think this is a fucking game? Go!"

"Fuck!" she said silently, checking around her. She knew who it was, who it only could be, Vaas, which meant that he wasn't too far away.

_Come on Kat, move your fucking feet. _Her head peered discreetly around the boulder. Vaas wasn't there, but two other pirates were. They were close. She took a small step, to peer some more. Snap!

"Shit!"

With her foot, she crushed a twig accidently; knowing it may have been heard she darted back to the boulder and pressed her body up against, remaining still.

"Did you hear that?" one asked.

"Go and check it out then!" the other replied.

His boots crashed against the hard dirt as he walked. Katerina concealed her mouth with her palm. Her eyes widened as the pirate emerged from behind the rock. She held her breath, her lips trembling against her skin. He hadn't seen her. Could she risk it?

The pirate gawked at the bush opposite her, blind to what lay behind him. She moved slowly, her eyes locked on him.

"I'm going!" the other pirate called, "you stay here."

"Whatever!" The pirate hollered back turning around. Katerina froze, still as ice.

"Hey!" he called rushing towards her.

She jumped up to run, but he caught her, snatching her leg and hauling her down. He crouched on top of her, trying to grasp her wrists as she struggled against his grasp.

"Get the fuck off me!" she barked, striking the pirate in the eyes with her fist. Had she really just done that? He grunted and rushed his hand to his face. Seizing her chance she flipped her body over and wriggled away.

"Fucking whore!" he screamed, towing her back. Her nails clawed the ground as she growled, abruptly kicking her feet and lurching her body. Her spun her around, and snickered drawing out a knife and swaying it above her head. She hissed, clawing her fingers across his face. He responded with a sharp strike to her cheek. She shook her head, her cheek burning and throbbing. Her heart pounded against her chest, and her body juddered with anger and her skin boiled. She smashed her fists against him chaotically, howling angrily, and somehow knocked the blade from his fingertips. His head fell to her neck, and she ripped his jaw with her teeth. She scrambled away, blood dripping from her mouth, and dived to the dagger that had been tossed in the mud.

She felt him touch her leg, and with a growl she swiftly swivelled her body around, plunging the blade into his neck. He coughed, blood spurting from his mouth. He looked at her and fell like a sack of flour, face first into the dirt.

She backed away from him, her hands trembling vigorously. "Fuck! Fuck!" she muttered, tightly grasping onto her hair with her fingers, "fuck I killed him. No, no, I fucking killed him. Fuck!" Still shaking, her fingers darted to her mouth, and she trembled even more as she looked down at the blood that flooded her hand. "Fuck!" she bawled, wiping the blood rapidly from her mouth, gaging once she acknowledged what she had just done. Her hands continued to quake. "Fucking hell!" she stammered, as she snatched the loaded gun from the dead pirate's body.

With the gun her in her hand she quickly glided into a lake of green in front of her that led through a part of the camp. She could skulk through here and go unnoticed, as if she was invisible. She snivelled, _what was that?_ She thought, scanning around her. Then, she realised that it was coming from the shrub. _Wait,_ she stopped at glared at the plant, her eyebrow arched, _Weed? What… so these assholes are drug smugglers too. Of course._ She rolled her eyes and continued to move forward, _well, at least they're useful for something. They're keeping me unseen. _

She reached the end of the long, lake of forbidden shrubs and stopped, falling backwards, dropping the gun on the floor. Her hand concealed her mouth and her eyes expanded. Vaas stood a few feet away, his gun pointing to the dirt. He stood beside the steps of a shack, near a cage packed with whimpering girls. Katerina squinted her eyes, but she couldn't make out anything else, as nearly everything was shrouded in darkness. Vaas listened intensively to one of the pirates, though he wasn't looking at him. He scowled and whipped his head to Katerina's direction. She quickly slunk further inside the plants. His dark narrow eyes scanned the area and gazed at the forest of illegal herbs before looking away.

Eventually he marched into the darkness, firing his gun in the air with his lapdogs trailing behind him. Katerina exhaled and relaxed her shoulders. Her eyes flashed back to the cage. _Come on Soph', are you there?_

Grabbing the gun, swiftly she slunk closer to the cage. There was no guards around, so she quickly darted to it, grasping onto the bars.

"Sophia!" she whispered. All the girls wailed into their knees, swaying their trembling bodies back and forth, oblivious that she was standing outside. A quivering girl in a golden bikini, with damp, long blond hair that waved messily down her back snapped her head up and scanned around. Catching sight of Katerina she gasped and rushed to the bars, clutching onto Katerina's hand and whimpering, tears streaming down her flushed face. Her pale green eyes were shiny with tears. She glanced up to Katerina and blubbered with a smile, "he's not dead. Grant he's not dead, he's alive."

"That's great."

"Kat, Kat we have to get out of here. They talk about selling us, and… and…" she broke into more weeps, bowing her head to her chest.

"Where's Danielle?"

"Two men took her, they were laughing… they took her but I don't know where. Kat, you've got to get me out if here, I fear that they'll take me next."

An eruption of gun shots echoed in the air; all the girls shuddered and cried to the distressing sound. Sophia glanced around her and shuddered, her lips spluttering out more wails as more tears streamed down her face from her swelling eyes like an infinite waterfall.

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm going to try and get you out, okay? Bear with me."

"Why… Kat what are you doing with a gun?"

"Doesn't matter, it's… I just need it."

"Kat… oh my god, are you okay? Your face."

Katerina raised her eyebrow in confusion, and brushed her fingers across her cheek. She was bleeding, "shit," she spat as she glanced down at the blood on her hands. She shook her head and whispered, "You know what, it's okay Soph, I'm alright; it's just a scratch."

"Where's your shirt? You must be freezing, did that pyscho…"

"My shirt and Vaas are not that important right now."

"Vaas?"

Katerina looked at Sophia in bewilderment, "yes he's…"

"Kat there's someone coming!"

Katerina jerked her bodied into the darkness, hiding behind a barrel behind the cage, with her finger resting on the trigger of the gun.

"What's that one gawking at?" one pirate snapped as marched up to the cage, swinging his gun his arms, pointing at the whimpering girl with the blond hair. Sophia trembled and hugged her body, glaring at the floor.

"Take that one out!"

Another pirate nodded and opened the cage door, and seized Sophia by the arm, she trembled, tears dripping from her chin. He lobbed her towards the other pirate who stood watching, twisting his fingers around the handle of his gun, and then he locked the cage door. It was Vaas. The barbaric savage.

"Shhh," he chilling soothed, grabbing her delicately by the arms and hugging her, "it's okay, it's okay." Her body trembled as she whimpered some more.

Vaas pushed her away from his chest, and cupped her wet face, glaring into her glassy eyes, "Your name is Sophia isn't." "Look Sophie, when I talk to you, the wise thing to do would to politely respond."

Her lip, trembled, tears flooding her skin. She anxiously nodded.

"It's okay Sophie. You just look a little suspicious, that's all. You wasn't talking to anybody was you?"

Her eyes widened, and she quickly shook her.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, her lip still trembling, and he grinned. "It's okay," he soothed, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He clicked back the slide of the gun and pressed the cold metal against her head. She yelped and quivered, "no please," she wailed, tears drowning her pink skin.

"Hey!" Vaas shouted, the gun still resting on Sophia's skull, "whoever is out there, show yourself, or I will blow a bullet in this whore's brain! I will count to six!" "One! Two! Three!"

"Oh god please!" Sophia wailed.

"Hey," he snapped, shaking her abruptly in his arms, "be quiet. Four!" "Five!"

His cold eyes suspiciously examined the darkness. His eyes narrowed, and then sighed. He glanced down to the whimpering girl, "I'm am very sorry Sophie." "Six!"


	8. Six

"No!"

Sophia's chest quaked as she cried, her head falling to her breast. Katerina emerged from the darkness, standing in front of the savage; her fingers clasped tightly around the gun that she held securely in her right hand. Vaas clenched his teeth, his piercing eyes wide, cold and furious. His jaw tensed. He scrunched his riled face and glanced to his left, scowling at the cage full of terrified captives. His fierce eyes snapped to the woman who stood opposite him. Suddenly he laughed, brushing the tip of his gun across his forehead. He turned his head to look at his men behind him.

"Who let her out, huh?" he laughed, now resting the gun on his neck, "huh?"

He roared angrily, abrupt and sudden, smashing his black boots forcefully into the ground, as he harshly hurled Sophia to the floor. His gun fired. He growled as one of his men collapsed to the floor, clutching onto his bleeding stomach, red blood gushing from his lips as his limp body flopped to the ground.

"Who the fuck!" he screamed, pacing up and down, enraged like a wild animal, "let her out!"

Sophia curdled into a ball, wailing and squealing as she buried her head in her arms.

"Shut the fuck up!" Vaas barked, perching over the juddering body like a ravenous, feral beast, as the girl bawled hectically, tunnelling her head into the ground. "Stop fucking crying!"

Katerina shuffled her feet, breathing heavily against the cold air, now clenching onto the heavy gun with both hands and pointing it to the soiled, dry grass – her fingers gently resting on the trigger.

"We never let her out," one man muttered, tunnelling his heel into the mud, "why would we?"

Vaas snapped his head to the pirate and waved his gun at him, tilting his head in a chaotic manner, "what?" he barked, grinding his teeth together irritably, "are you implying that I am a fool? Huh? Do you think that I am stupid? Well? Fucking do you?" Vaas screamed angrily, the girl beside his feet trembled nervously, and even his men winced and glared at the floor. The man who spoke shook his head, lowering his rifle and restlessly raking his boot across the ground. "Do you want to fucking go?" he warned, his thunderous, turbulent voice, crackling through the cold, thin air, "because believe me, when I am livid, I will blast my bullet through anyone's fucking skull! And hermano, you're antagonizing me, and I fucking warn you amigo, that's not wise. Not fucking wise at all. So next time you open your mouth, ensure that it's something worth saying, otherwise, keep your fucking mouth shut!"

Katerina's fingers trembled against the cold metal of the gun as her wary, golden eyes locked onto Vaas. His head snapped in her direction and she gulped as he slowly took one step towards her. With her arm trembling, she lifted the gun to the air and pointed it at the wild brute.

"What?" Vaas teased, playfully holding his arm up in the air as he slowly walked towards her, "are you going to shoot me?"

"Take one more step and I will!" she warned, lifting the gun higher and resting her finger on the deadly trigger.

He stopped, and smirked, a heinous cackle erupting from his mouth. "Oh, I really doubt that." He chuckled.

"I warn you. Take one more step and I will pull this fucking trigger."

"Oh really?" His stern, dark eyebrows dropped over his cold, dark eyes and his jaw tensed as he scowled. "So If I take one step, you'll fucking shoot me? Really. Like this?"

With a scowl he stretched out his leg. Katerina winced as the gun jumped in her quaking hand, spitting out a bullet that soared rapidly in the air. Her hand had lowered from uncertainty, causing the bullet to blast into the ground. Dirt flew up into the cold air like a splash of cold water as the bullet penetrated the earth. Vaas, snapped his leg away and scowled, examining the hole that was beside his feet.

"You nearly fucking shot me!" he roared, glaring at the hole in the earth.

"I…I said I would."

He sucked his teeth, and chuckled wickedly "lucky for you, you missed…however…"

Katerina tensed as she glared into his fierce, burning eyes. Quickly he spun around and marched over to the quivering blond girl that had cradled her quaking body into a small ball. With a sigh, Vaas glared at her, whilst brushing his fingertips through his thick Mohawk. She looked up to him and cowered, hugging her body tighter and bringing her knees up to her chest.

"It's okay, it okay," he soothed, as he bent down to lift her to her feet. He stroked her messy blond hair as he trapped her in his arms. He shook her and laughed, gripping tightly onto her bare shoulders as she wailed like a terrified child that trembled to the sight of a petrifying monster.

"How about you try again, work on your aim, eh?" he snapped as he marched towards Katerina, who still pointed the gun at him, "do you think you will miss her if you shoot?" He wrapped his arm around the wailing girl who barely managed to stand, her arms and legs trembling as she anxiously stumbled towards the mouth of the gun that her friend had hold of.

"Please," Sophia whined, tears streaming down her glowing, pink face "why are you doing this?"

"Shhh Sophie," Vaas snapped, abruptly shaking her by the shoulders, stopping a few feet away from Katerina, "I want to see what your friend does."

"Let her go!" Katerina barked, but her voice cracked – similar to the clatter of ice crunching beneath your boot as your foot slowly treads on it. "Vaas let her go, "she repeated – her voice quieter and more composed.

"Come on, shoot me."

"No, please put her down."

"Shoot me! Come on just pull the fucking trigger!"

Vaas' voice grew louder, and echoed coldly in the air. Sophia trembled; her head lowered to her chest, and tears poured from her cheeks to the floor. The gun quaked in Katerina's grasp. Her arm shook as tears began to swell in her vexed sapphire eyes.

"Vaas," she croaked, swallowing a whine that forcefully tried to escape her trembling lips.

"Come on! Fucking shoot!"

"Vaas, please just drop her! Don't hurt her, it's not her fault, please!"

"Shoot…or…"

Katerina shook her head anxiously, tears dripping down her cheeks, as Vaas pressed his gun against Sophia's head. She squealed, and shuddered like a sick animal as she exploded into more whines and desperate pleas.

He chuckled, the corners of his mouth stretching wide, as the icy gun rested on the girls head, "Or I will."

"No."

"Shall I start counting again?"

"No, no please."

"One."

"Vaas, please don't!"

"Two. Are you guessing what number I'm going up to?" He snickered, taking a step closer and digging the mouth of the gun deeper into Sophia's head, making the petrified girl squeal, "Three."

"No! I can't, I can't!"

"Four."

Sophia lifted her head, her face flooded from her tears, "p...please don't," she squealed, "please, please, please you can k…kill her, but just don't kill me, please! I beg you!"

Vaas looked down to the whimpering girl and cocked an eyebrow chuckling at her and gripping onto the strands of her hair before glancing back up to Katerina, who had lowered her gun. Her hazel eyes locked on Sophia, her face still. Suddenly, her teeth clenched and she barked "what! Giving me up that easily are you! Fucking coward. You're supposed to be my friend Soph' and you're selling me out to save your own fucking ass! Fuck you Sophie!"

"No!" she wailed back, tears pouring from her red eyes, "I don't want to die! I can't die like this! I won't die like this!"

Vaas chuckled, his fingers still clenching onto the sobbing girl's blond hair, and his gun still resting on her head. "Five." he sang.

"I was going to help you!" she roared, now only holding the gun in one, "I could have got you out of here!"

Vaas suddenly snapped his head, his eyes wide and his teeth clamped together. He stomped viciously closer to Katerina, spotting his aggression she quickly raised the gun. Sophia squealed from the sudden abrupt tug of her hair as he hauled her forward. His eyes were fierce and angry. Katerina quivered to sight of it. _Shit!_ She thought to herself, sweat acumalting on her brow as she glared fretfully into his brutal wide eyes,_ I shouldn't have said that. Shit. Fuck… fuck!_

"So, you weren't just going to escape," he snapped, his body shaking as he spoke, and the blue veins pulsating angrily in his neck, against his heated skin – a sight that was becoming awfully familiar to Katerina – "you were going to liberate my captive's as well, huh?"

He was close to her. She could feel his heated breath on her cold, trembling skin as he spoke. The mouth of the gun she held nearly touched his chest… or was that Sophia? She didn't look, too afraid to let her eyes leave him.

"Six!" he snapped. One squeal, and bang! She collapsed to the floor, red hair flowing over her wet, pink face as her head lay in the dirt. Red blood splashed on Vaas' cheek and arm, and on Katerina's arm and on Katerina's chest. Her lip trembled as she glared at the body beside her bare feet. She whimpered, barring her lips together to try and muffle the cries, and looked back at him – her body trembling. She dropped the gun in shock.

Suddenly her seized her by the arm, and shook her abruptly and harshly. She squirmed in his grasp, punching his arm both fists, tears streaming down her cheeks as she wailed. "Bastard!" she spat, "fuck you!"

Vaas quickly raised his arm and silenced her with a rough strike to her cheek. She stopped, glaring at Vaas with wide, fearful eyes as she cupped her cheek with her palm.

"If you fucking try this again!" Vaas angrily bellowed, his face nearly touching her, "I will fucking kill you!" She whimpered at his screams and squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the tears that trailed down her throbbing skin, "do you fucking understand me!" he screamed, grasping her harshly by the shoulders, "hey!"

She snivelled, fluttering her soaked eyes open, tears clung to her long black eyelashes and fell to her cheeks. She glanced up at him and barred her lips together, nodding her head.

Without saying another word he roughly hauled her away into the darkness, marching quickly and sternly – making Katerina stumble over her feet and nearly fall to the ground.

Still clutching onto Katerina's arm, Vaas unlocked the red metal door of his shack and kicked the door open with his boot. He took one step and flung Katerina inside. She stumbled over her feet, treading on the scattered shards of glass and collapsed to the floor, near his bed at the back of the dark, icy shack. He flicked the light on with his thumb and smashed the door shut with his arm. He took one glance at her and spun rounded, smashing his fist against the wooden wall. Katerina jumped, as the shack seemed to quake from his belligerent, vicious movements. Digging her teeth into her lip she stood up, limping as she rose to her feet.

"I have a very strong urge," Vaas snapped, pacing up and down the shack, shaking his hands in the air, "to slice you fucking open for what you've done!"

The glass shattered under his boots. The echo made Katerina tremble, but she kept her gazed locked on him, and said nothing.

"How the fuck did you even get out, huh? What? Did you clamber through the fucking window, did you?"

"Yes." She stammered, clenching her hands into fists as she watched.

"Okay, okay, I'll play along. So no one saw you? You just jumped out unseen, with your hands bound?"

"Well…"

Vaas glanced at her, and scowled, darting over to her and seizing coarsely by her chin.

"What the fuck is that?" he snapped.

"What?"

"What the fuck is that, on your fucking face?"

"Oh… a scratch."

"Did someone does this? Have you been frolicking with any of my men? Huh? Believe me if you have…. No, no, no, if you have been fucking playing games and have been fucking with me, showing me fucking disrespect, then… then you will fucking sorry. So tell me, who the fuck give you that!"

"Why the fuck would I want to do anything with your men?"

He shook her abruptly, tightening his grip on her arm. She grimaced, digging her blunt nails into her palms.

"You're crossing thin line. I will ask one more time, before I get seriously fucking pissed off."

"One of your pirates attacked me," she croaked, breathing restlessly as he glared at her, "so I defended myself and got this in return."

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"No, you're fucking lying!"

"Check outside, and you'll see that I'm not lying as you will find his body by the window!"

Realising what she said she quickly concealed her lips with her palm and froze in his grasp. _Fuck Kat!_ She thought to herself, _why can't I keep my mouth shut? Shit, why did I say that? Fuck!_

"You what?" "You killed someone? You killed one of _my_ men?"

Lowering her palm from her lips she glared up at him, glaring at the blood splattered on his cheek. Her lip trembled as she peered up to glimpse at his cold brown eyes that narrowed and studied her face. He quickly ran his tongue across his lips and opened them to speak.


	9. Amusement

His mouth stretched into a grin, and he chuckled – his deep callous cackle vibrating in the air, "you really are different, aren't you?" He seized her by the arms and shook her, in retaliation she clutched onto his arms and gasped to his touch. "It's funny! First, you quarrel with me on the way up here, then you escape, then you point a fucking gun at me, which… I am still relatively fucking pissed at!" His tone of voice suddenly changed to being angry and threatening to a one that bounced with laughter and jest; he continued, still grinning as he spoke "and now, you're telling me that you killed someone. It's funny that a part of me believes you! For your sake, let's hope your just joking Chica."

"I'm afraid I'm not."

He laughed, his eyes studying her face. But her expression did not change, it remained guarded, filled with ire, resentment and grief. The corners of his mouth slowly fell as he continued to examine her – his eyes narrowing and his jaw tightening. His face fell dark and cold, as if a blanket of vice and animosity had wrapped itself around him, leaving a horrid expression on his pitiless face. He scowled, crinkling his nose in irritation. His head darted closer to her, his agitated breath hitting Katerina on her skin, "so!" he snapped, anger growing in his deep, solemn voice, "if I go outside, your telling me I'll find a fucking body? That you are responsible for? That's fucking crazy! I mean, why would _you_ do that? Kill someone, without remorse? That's fucking corrupt Chica! Don't you think?"

"Isn't that what you do?" she teased, her voice low and direct. Her expression hadn't changed. She remained still as cold water, and blank as white paper.

With a snarl, Vaas' hand suddenly seized Katerina's neck – his fingers coiling around her flesh. She gasped, clutching onto his fingers with her trembling hands, in a futile attempt to pry them away from her skin. He laughed, shoving her abruptly to the wall, pressing his torso against her chest and her exposed stomach – his grip slowly tightening around her neck. She choked, gasping for air, and her grip loosened, and her hand slowly fell. "Remember your fucking place!" he snapped, shaking her as he spoke, "remember I could break you as easily as a fucking tooth pick Chica! So watch what you fucking say!"

"Please…" she choked - her eyes rolling to her skull, and the colour fading from her face.

With a grin he dropped her, as harshly as he seized her, and she collapsed to the floor, crashing onto the wooden surface with a harsh thud. She coughed breathlessly, clutching on her reddened, raw neck, rubbing it delicately with the tips of her fingers.

"I'm going to check outside," he declared, with a minor cadence to his voice. She didn't glance up to look at him; still coughing and stroking her burning neck as she glared at the floor. Her head only lifted when she heard the startling smash of the metal door, and when she glanced up he was gone_. I better prepare myself for a liable _vicious explosion, she thought to herself, shuddering in pain as she slowly sat herself up – her cut feet too tender for her to stand

Finally, after what felt like hours to Katerina, the red metal door was pushed open. Katerina braced herself, clenching her teeth together and freezing her body to stone.

Vaas stood in the door, arching his back and resting his right hand on his knee – his head lowered, glaring at floor, not yet looking up at Katerina. His back quaked, and, to Katerina's surprise, laughter echoed from his lips. Katerina glared at him, puzzled and astounded, with her lips slightly parted; her body was still tense but her shoulders dropped and she relaxed a little. She opened her mouth to speak, but she ceased her breath, and barred her lips together – sitting in silence and glaring in wonder, at the man who stood laughing like a child in the doorway.

He finally straightened his back, his eyes nearly swelling with tears. He glanced at Katerina, who was still greatly confused and raised an eyebrow at him subconsciously.

"Did you see him?" he howled, his voice bouncing with laughter, as he pointed outside, "you stabbed him in the fucking neck! In the neck! You! A woman! He's…" he broke into more laughter, slamming the door behind him and capering over to her, "fuck Chica, you killed him! But you didn't just kill him, you knifed the little fucker in the neck! I'm surprised! Wow! Like, wow!"

_How was this funny? How on earth, did he find this at all funny?_

Katerina shook her head, watching in bewilderment, as her chaotic capturer controlled his laughter, snapping a tear from his cheek, whilst muttering to himself, "that's fucking crazy!"

"Seriously now," he snapped, his tone more harsh, shaking his head and shoulders whilst sauntering over to Katerina. He chuckled and snatched Katerina by her arm, she yelped as he hauled her up. Her knees wobbled as she staggered on her gashed feet. "What shall I do with you?" he teased, taking a strand of her hair and curling it around his thumb, "you _have_ angered me."

"Fuck you Vaas." She spluttered out, flashing her eyes away from his horrid face.

She flinched to the sudden slap Vaas delivered to her arm. His hit was brusque and made her skin throb. "Am I not being generous?" he barked, grasping Katerina's chin and yanking it to his direction, "do you want me to fucking kill you?" "Well fucking do you?"

Her lip juddered; she was still dreadfully afraid of the distressing thunder in his angered voice. Though she wanted to show no fear, she couldn't cease her lip from trembling, or her body from shuddering, or her eyes from shutting or her heart from racing. She shook her head, but that didn't appease him. He struck her again, shaking her abruptly in by her arms.

"No, I'm sorry!" she managed to finally mutter.

She was heavy in his arms, hardly able to bear the sharp pain that rushed up her feet when they touched the wooden surface. He held her gaze, eyeing her shiny, golden, hazel orbs, her slender nose and her luscious rouged lips. His thumb trailed up her cheek and grazed across the wound engraved in her luminous skin. She winced, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as he touched it.

"I'm afraid that's gonna' scar Chica," he sighed, brushing the blood off her cheek gently with his thumb.

Her eyes fluttered open, glaring directly at the man who studied her carefully like a prize, caressing her cheek and jaw with his thumb. His hands trailed down to her collarbone, she flinched to the touch and he chuckled, roughly clutching onto the back of her neck and pulling her head towards his. She shook her head irately, as his lips leaned into hers, ceasing her angered yells of protest. His left hand grasped her waist as the other trailed up to the back of her skull where he tightly snatched a curtain of her hair and laced it in his fingers. Katerina winced, growling into his mouth in rile, pushing Vaas' shoulders with her fists and the palms of her hands, but he didn't move. Her skull smashed against the wood of the shack walls – unable to move with Vaas' steaming, raved body pressed up against her. With a grin, he savagely sunk his teeth into her bottom lip, until blood trickled down her skin. She growled and bawled into his mouth, unable to liberate her lips from his, smashing Vaas harshly with her fists, and shuddering to the horrific crunching noise in between the savage's teeth. He drew back slightly, breathing heavily into her mouth, "that's for biting me," he purred, a corrupt cackle erupting from his lips. He laughed, leaning his lips back into her. Then the unthinkable happened. Something Vaas nor even Katerina expected. With anger, and resentment boiling up inside Katerina, as if she was a hot kettle ready to explode, she quickly brought up her fist and clouted the savage in the jaw. He stammered backwards, shaking his head, dazed from the ordeal.

Now would normally be the perfect opportunity to dash away - a sort of "hit and run" - but Katerina just stood there, traumatized on what she just did. She stood frozen, as if she had be turned to rock, glaring at her hands – her mouth dropped and fell wide. _Did I really just do that? Shit, did I just do that? _

Her eyes flashed to the enraged pirate that snapped his head up. She swallowed her breath, her shaking hands raised above her head.

"Now… now you fucking done it!" he roared, rushing over to her and striking her in the face. His blow was that forceful that Katerina plummeted straight to the floor, her whole body quivering with dread.

"Fucking bastard!" she squealed, as he yanked her to her feet, clutching only onto her hair. Her face glowed - Katerina could feel her tender skin burning like a blaze. With a snarl Vaas hooked his boot behind her ankle, swiping her legs out from underneath her and sending her crashing down onto her back with a hard thump. His heavy body concaved down onto her small frame, crushing her ribs and compressing her hips. She kicked her legs angrily, screaming and bashing her heels into the floor. "Get off of me! Get off of me!" she screamed, hurling her head and body to try and break free.

"Shut the fuck up!" he roared, seizing her wrists and pinning them the floor, "don't make me kill you."

"Fuck you!"

With a snarl he let go of one of her hands and reach to his holster drawing out his gun. The cold metal dug harshly into Katerina forehead, and she quailed, as tears began to swell in her eyes. Panic devoured her, clawing at the inside of her gut like a feral animal until there was nothing left of her but fear.

"I'm sorry Kat what did you say? Huh? What did you fucking say?"

She shook her head vigorously, tears flying from her face, "nothing," she muttered, "nothing."

He burrowed his gun further into her head, she squealed, her eyes squeezing shut. "Is that all you want to say?" he asked coldly, leaning his face closer to her – his warm breath grazing across her cheek.

She shook her head, clenching her lips together as her eyes sprang open. "I'm sorry," she blubbered breathlessly, "Vaas I'm sorry."

She juddered under his body, as his gun trailed the border her face, down her neck and down her stomach. His rough hands snaked down her body, feeling the icy chill of her bare skin. The gun brushed back up her skin to her head where he pushed it against her skull. She trembled again - her eyes barring shut to try and block out the nightmare – as his tongue traced her skin. His teeth nibbled coarsely on her neck, biting down onto her flesh until he tasted the faint, metallic taste of her blood. She wailed, drawing her arms to her head and concealing her eyes. His hands snaked her body, seizing the rim of her demin short and yanking them roughly down her thighs and off her legs. The echo of her rounded metal buttons colliding against the wooden floor rang through the shack like a siren. Katerina wailed – fear had overcome her and took control of her whole body, like a vicious daemon devouring her mind, until her sanity was depleted. Vaas silenced her with his lips, trailing his tongue over the gash he had created in her lip, and groping her legs and ass as she shuddered beneath him.

Suddenly his body jolted away from her, and instead he stood above her, surveying her as if she was his prey. His eyes appeared to be distrait and tired, and they seemed to search Katerina's face for a solution of some sort. She squirmed awkwardly on the floor as he gaped inanely at her, his face relaxed but oddly distressed – something she had never witnessed from him yet. She had seen the anger, the chaotic hilarity, but nothing like this. It worried her. Was it something she had done? What was going to happen?

She remained still and glared right back at him, awaiting the moment where his mood would snap to become something completely different, like someone changing the channel on a television. But… nothing. Her stared at her some more, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat, until her whipped his body away - trudging over to his desk, with his heavy boots dragging across the floor.


	10. Minutes

The air was silent. How late was it? Katerina could hear crickets humming melodically outside. She could even hear the crunching of leaves that people were silently treading on. The shack was silent too. All you could hear was Katerina's slow, deep breath, and Vaas… not a whisper from him. Katerina thought that he had left, vanished like some mysterious phantom out of a story book, but he hadn't. He was still here. What was he doing? She didn't know – as she was still lying frozen on her back, glaring up at the ceiling, studying the cracks in the wilted wood that flowed like rivers and the several silver silk cobwebs that hung in the corners like draperies. The artificial light in the room was dim, and the old bulb was nearly ready to be replaced. There was a small hole in the wood, no smaller than a pea, but from that tiny gap a blue light shined through – light from the moon – and it was stunning. Katerina viewed it with a smile, wondering if she would ever be able to behold the moon from this place. After all, it was an island, and was probably beautiful – teeming with light and life. Here she was enclosed, trapped in cold bars like an animal, blocked from any pure light that wanted to touch her skin. And here light was shunned, along with any life. This was a barren land. Filled only with demise, fear and vice.

The silence was disturbed by the shrill clatter of a bottle hitting the table, and then the rough scratch of a match. Katerina's nose shrivelled to sickly smell of smoke and marijuana that flew in the air. Her hand reached to her neck, which throbbed, the aggravating pain clawing at her skin. She gritted her teeth, annoyed that the brutal savage had bit that harshly onto her flesh. She shook her head angrily, glancing at her fingers that were doused in her blood.

A cold breeze moaned eerily through the cracks of the floor, and Katerina shivered, sitting herself up and hugging her knees to try and generate some heat. She winced as she moved her feet, stupidly biting down onto her lip causing her to jerk in pain. She rushed her hand to her mouth as more warm blood trickled down her chin. Inhaling deeply she wiped it away with the back of her hand, but she gently dabbed her gashed, aching lip with her fingers. She winced again as she moved her feet inch by inch, so that her legs drew closer to her bare stomach. Somehow she was warmer without her shorts on –probably because now the remains of the icy sea didn't cling to her skin – and was thankful to see that her black lace underwear was still on, and even happier knowing it was quite dry. Though she felt awfully vulnerable, and self-conscious sitting here like this – exposed. Her body was involuntary on display for Vaas to gaze upon when he wished, hence why she drew her knees up closer, squashing her chest into her thighs and resting her forehead onto her knees.

Vaas glanced over to her, taking a long drag of his cigarette and watching with curiosity as she buried her head into her knees. He tilted his head and examined the splashes of blood on the floor, then his eyes scanned to her feet. Her toes crinkled, and her whole foot shuddered from agony; blood dripping onto the floorboards, echoing in the quiet room.

"You've cut your feet," Vaas exclaimed, choking as he blow out a haze of grey smoke.

Katerina lifted her head, her tangled brunette hair spiralling over her face, "I…I know," she stammered. She cringed, her eyes tightening, for every movement of her lips stung like the sharp thorn of nettle, as if her flesh was tearing open every time she spoke or moved her mouth. "I cut it on the glass."

"That was stupid of you," Vaas snorted.

"Well you did throw me."

Her eyes clenched, regretting her words. But instead of bestowing a vile act of aggression, Vaas chuckled, bringing the cigarette to his lips, "so I did," he grunted, taking another long drag of his cigarette, holding the smoke in for a while before blowing it out from the corners of his mouth.

Minutes had past and still the air was silent. Vaas stared blankly at the wall opposite him, leaning against the table – his dark eyes wide and empty, as if he was in a trance. He held the cigarette in his fingers, letting it shrivel up into a long strand of grey ash until it fluttered to the floor. With a heavy sigh he brushed his fingertips through his hair, snubbing the remaining bit of his cigarette on the table.

Katerina watched him with wary eyes, "Vaas?" she whispered, her head lifting from her legs.

"What?" he snapped, unfastening his holster that coiled around his waist and lobbing it onto the table.

She shook her head, regretful of speaking, sensing his irritation, "never mind," she muttered, glaring at the floor – avoiding eye contact with him.

"Well then," he grunted, kicking of his boots and collapsing onto his bed, "don't fucking speak next time."

His chest raised as he released another sigh, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and finger, then brushing his palm up his skull – his fingertips grazing the scar that trailed to the back of his head.

"Do I have to fucking tie you up?" he grunted in a surprisingly soft monotone.

Katerina looked at him, hugging her knees as she croaked, "sorry?"

"Do I have to fucking tie you up? So you don't get away or make a reckless move by trying to snatch a weapon from my holster." He voice was surprisingly calm, but it was low and stern, which distressed her still.

She shook her head, "that won't happen."

"Hmm, not too sure if I can believe that."

"In my condition…" she winced to the sharp pain in her lip, but swallowed her whimper and continued, "I can barely stand. So I assure you that I'm not going anywhere."

"Condition? You mean the wounds on your feet, why? Are they bad?"

"It's just a scratch. I'm sure it will heal."

He laughed, his deep cackle vibrating in his throat, making his chest quake. His eyes sprang open as he rotated his head to look her. Not wanting to look directly into his dark callous eyes she flashed her head away, swallowing her breath, and tensing as it travelled slowly down her throat.

A few minutes past, and silence filled the room. Katerina glanced down at her feet and examined them, wincing as she probed her fingers at the shards of glass stuck in her flesh. Building up some courage she turned her head towards Vaas, whose fierce eyes glued to the ceiling.

"Vaas?"

"You better fucking say something this time." He warned, still fixed on the cracks above him.

That frightened her, but she swallowed her fear and inhaled deeply, pursing her lips to speak. "May I have… some alcohol… to clean my wounds?"

He laughed sitting up, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Why the fuck would I give you that?" he teased, he mouth stretching into a wicked grin.

"I was only asking."

He chuckled, rising to his feet and sauntering over to his table, avoiding the shards of glass on the floor. "You'll be asking for a fucking cigarette next." He growled, as he rummaged through glass bottles.

Shaking a bottle in his hand he strolled over to her, crouching beside her once he reached her. With a snarl he seized Katerina's ankle roughly, making her crash onto her back.

"What are doing?" she stammered, wincing at the pain.

"Shut the fuck up Kat, I'm not in the mood."

He lifted her foot and examined it, his eyes squinting as he surveyed her skin, "there is still glass in here, do you know that?"

"Yes."

Abruptly he dropped her foot, jumping to his feet. Katerina yelped, bowing her head as tears swelled in her glassy eyes. Suddenly he was back, twisting a sharp knife in his hand. Katerina gulped, and her body trembled. _Oh god!_ She thought to herself, her eyes fixed on the blade he held loosely in his hand.

He sat back down, crossing his legs and snatching Katerina's ankle again, hauling it to his lap. She squirmed in his grasp, trembling as he hovered the knife beside her skin.

"Fucking sit still!" he snapped. She obeyed, biting down on her lip, not caring if more blood was to trickle from her mouth.

She yelped, clawing her nails into the wooden floorboards, grinding her teeth together and squeezing her eyes tightly shut. Vaas had took the blade and pierced her skin with it, slicing at the cuts that were already engraved on the soles of her feet. "Stop moving!" he snapped, picking his blade at her other foot. Tears drowned his skin, and blood leaked from her mouth were she had gnawed her lip in agony. She breathed heavily, nibbling harshly at her knuckles that she had brought to her lips.

"This is gonna' fuckin' hurt by the way," he warned, his tone cold and impatient.

Katerina braced herself, barring her wet eyes tightly shut, hiding her face with her palms. Then she felt it. The agonizing burning sensation across her wounds, sinking deep into her flesh as if someone had brutally poured acid over her skin. Her skin felt like it was being singed from the inside. She barred her lips tightly but the high squeals still echoed from her mouth.

She controlled her breathing, her hands clenched into fists over her eyes. She had fallen onto her back, and lay their shuddering with her breath ragged. She opened her eyes when she heard a tearing noise, and when she looked up she saw Vaas tearing her shirt that he lobbed on the floor earlier, and then wrapping the fabric around her foot. Katerina squealed to the pain, gnawing onto her fists. Vaas tapped her leg roughly, "stop crying your fine." He snapped, standing up abruptly, so her feet fell, her heels crashing against the wood of the floor with a thud. _What had he done? _Katerina asked herself, as she controlled her breathing._ Did he just help me? It certainly didn't feel like _it. Wincing every time her foot moved, she slowly managed to sit up again, resting her back against the cold wall, shrouding herself in darkness. With the back of her wrist she wiped the blood from her mouth and chin, and hugged her knees – her body still shaking from the horrific ordeal.

"Here!" Vaas called tersely, snatching the thin red blanket from his bed with his fist and tossing it to Katerina.

She caught the blanket quickly, brushing her fingertips across the soft fleecy texture. "Thank you." She said softly, her voice dry from her whimpers, drawing the blanket up to her chest, nuzzling her body into it.

"Get some sleep," he ordered snappishly, clearly in an irritable mood, resting his palm over his eyes as he lay back on the bed.

How? She thought, glaring at the blue fabric coiled around her feet. She was unsure if Vaas was sleeping or was just lying there. His arm concealed his face and he lay there without muttering a single word. Perhaps he yearned for some rest - it was late, and the day had been long and wearying. Resting her head on the wall, Katerina wrapped the fleecy blanket snugly around her body. The blanket smelt of him - the cloying aroma of salt and liquor. Normally the odour would repulse her, but she was freezing, and this thin cover was seen as a gift that she should value - as she didn't know how long she would be able to keep the precious donation for. She drew the blanket closer, nuzzling her neck into the fabric. It took a while but eventually her eyes fell heavy, as if a dark spell had come over her. Her head bowed to her knees and her eyes slowly shut.


	11. Awakened

Katerina awakened, and her face shrivelled with agony. Outside it was still dark; the air was biting and cold. Did she get any sleep at all? What time was it? With her fist she rubbed her eyes that were still wet with tears, wincing at the excruciating pain in her foot. Once she moved her face she stiffened to the stinging pain in her cheek. Day one and she was already battered and scored – going great.

Vaas was still lounging on his bed – one arm slung over his eyes and the other hanging off the edge of the bed, with his fingertips grazing the wooden floorboards. Katerina glared at him for a while, watching for any brash movements that he might randomly make. But Vaas was still, like the calm water, breathing slowly and heavily against his arm.

Katerina moved her eyes away from him and scanned the room anxiously. For a while she glared at the table, behind the treacherous stream of glass, her eyes scanning back at forth, from Vaas and to the table and then back at Vaas again. Digging her nails into her palm, she held her breath and burrowed her fists into the floorboards, squeezing her eyes shut as she slowly rose from the floor. She balanced on her heels and yelped silently, clawing at the wall as she whimpered in pain – tears trickling down her cheek and falling to her breast. She took one step, delicately treading onto the rough wood, but even stepping lightly caused the excruciating pain to claw callously at her flesh, making her muscles ache and her skin burn. She yelped, falling to her stomach, catching herself roughly by her arms.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Vaas groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and rubbing his face with his rough hand.

Katerina sat up, wincing and clenching her teeth together as she hissed through her teeth, pain filling her body as she moved. With her shaken hand she brushed the hair from her face and looked up at Vaas with fretful eyes that swelled from tears and shined like silver. He sat up, growling as he brushed his fingertips through his hair, exhaling deeply as he glared at the nails in the floorboard.

"Are you going to fucking answer me?" he snarled, standing up and glaring at her from above.

"I wasn't d…doing anything," she stammered, her lip trembling as she lifted her head to look at her capturer, "I was seeing if I could stand."

"Why?" His voice was serious, it was a bark – a vicious scold that frightened her. His severe low tone sent a chilling, abysmal shiver through her body. "I asked you why," he barked again, growing impatient; snapping his head to her direction.

"I..I… I just wanted to see how badly my wounds were."

"Liar."

"I'm not…"

"No, no, no, no!" he barked, crouching down besides Katerina, who stumbled backwards onto her elbows, quivering to the warm gust of Vaas' breath against her skin. "Don't you know not to lie? It's a stupid fucking thing to do. Gets you into all kinds of trouble that you don't want to fuckin' be in." "Plus, have I ever told you that I'm not a great morning person?"

"Well, I haven't been here for very long." She stammered her voice dry and shaken.

Vaas chuckled, snatching a strand of her hair and twisting it in her fingers, "are you suggesting that you want to stay for a while? Eh? Are you enjoying my company?"

"I…I… no."

"No?"

"No."

He chuckled again, standing up and studying her like a painting – something that pleased but also amused him. His hand rushed to his head, and he slowly traced it down his face, stretching his skin and rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "Stand up." He ordered in a severe monotone.

She looked at him and gulped, digging her fists into the ground and pushing herself up by her arms.

"Come on, stand the fuck up." He barked, tapping his foot impatiently.

Finally Katerina was to her feet, her body trembling and her eyes swelling with tears. She bit her lip anxiously as she peered up at Vaas, clenching her fists together as she stood awkwardly on her aching feet.

"Can you walk?"

Katerina winced, "I don't know," she muttered, nerves creeping into her voice, making it quake.

"Try."

Katerina barred her lips together, moving her feet reluctantly. She took one small step and yelped, falling forwards towards the floor. She opened her eyes, expecting her face to be buried into the ground, but she did not hit the floor. Vaas had quickly caught her and held her in his arms, turning her body around so that she looked up at him. He locked her in his arms for a moment, glaring into her wide hazel orbs that shimmered with tears.

Flashing his eyes away he abruptly dropped her, releasing his protecting grasp and allowing her to collapse harshly onto the wooden floor. She squealed as her back crashed bitterly against the hard surface with a loud thud. He perched over her – a predator observing prey – as she lay still on the floor, gnawing on her inner cheek expecting Vaas to tumble on top of her like some monster in a horror film. Instead, he reached for his boots, plunging his feet into them and quickly tying the black laces together. Katerina watched him leave, her eyes glued to the red metal door that slammed shut, taking away with it any light that had previously filled the room.

_What on earth is happening?_ Katerina thought as she slowly sat up, resting her back against the warm wood of Vaas' bed, _why the many questions? Why the slow, heavy movements? Why the small unanticipated acts of humanity? Why the tiredness and the unease? What drove him to become this different when he was confined to this shack alone? Did I miss something? Had something horrific happened, but for some unsettling reason I cannot recall it? What was going to become of me? What was going on? _

Katerina waited, stroking the blue, blood-stained fabric swathed around her feet with her fingertips. The weird thing was, was that she didn't even know what she was waiting for. Perhaps she was waiting for an insight, something to guide her away from this prison. Or maybe she was waiting for someone to rescue her, a saviour that would take her pain and fear away, and let it get lost in the wind. Someone who would protect her and keep her from harm. She chuckled at her ridiculous hopes. Of course that wasn't going to happen. No one was going to liberate her from her torment and no one was going to shield her from harm. She no longer was her own person. She was property, controlled by fear - owned by a vicious, brutal and terrifying pirate lord. Here, in this place, she felt powerless and felt that there was nothing, and none one, that could save her from the agony she was bearing.

Though the thought of escaping again did wander in her mind. _Try a different route and hope for the best_. But, there was no guarantee that, that could work. She was badly beaten and her whole body throbbed with pain that burned like fire against her delicate skin, which meant that even if she could escape, where would she go? How would she even get there? How would she even bear the strength to clamber up to window, and slink through bushes and behind rocks and barrels? It was not possible. She sighed, bowing her head to her chest and shutting her eyes. Her recent thoughts left her wandering, why didn't Vaas lock the window? What was he trying to prove?

"Wake up!"

Katerina jumped to the sudden boisterous sound of Vaas' dulcet call - that abnormally bounced with jest. Golden light glowed into the shack from the open door and the small window. When did Katerina fall asleep? How long was she asleep for? Had Vaas been away all this time?

"Well, good afternoon!" he smiled, a gun in his hand, "been asleep all this time have you? Lazy. You are very lazy Kat, tut tut." He laughed, brushing the tip of his pistol across his head, "pleasant dreams? Eh? No?" he grinned, lips dripping with a callous venom, "or was you dreaming about me? Can you not get enough of me? Enjoyed my fiery kiss last night, eh?"

Katerina shook her head, wrapping her fingers tightly around her arms and drawing her knees up to her chest.

"No? Why?" Vaas growled, marching over to her slowly, his foot treading on the glass that shattered beneath his boot. He chuckled, crouching beside her, "what? Did you want more? Was it not enough for you sweetheart?" Vaas grinned, sticking his pink tongue out between his teeth as a malice snicker echoed from his mouth. Katerina glared up at him with wide wary eyes - her body as hard as marble. "I think you should tell me the truth," his voice was a whisper, he continued, taking hold of her by the arms, "I know you yearn for more of it, the taste of it. I am correct, no?"

Katerina flashed her eyes away from Vaas' face and glared at the floor, studying the small rusted nails embedded in the wood. A deep chuckle erupted from Vaas' lips and he pushed back a strand of Katerina's long hair behind her ear. "Your hair is no longer wet I see," he chuckled, cupping her face in his palms, but still her eyes looked away, "though, still damp…" he sighed, brushing his fingertips across the deep wound on her cheek, "you look pale Chica."

He erupted into more chilling roguish cackles, standing up and looking down at her like a predator – hunger building in his cold eyes. His tongue raced across his lips, and Katerina peered up - a silent dry cough exploding from her lips. Her lip trembled as she opened them, "Vaas, can I have some water please?"

He chuckled again, brushing his fingertips through his Mohawk and glaring up at the ceiling as he snickered, "water! Yes, I could do with some water. The sweet, cold refreshing fluid rushing down my dry throat. Thanks Chica!"

With a callous grin he spun around rapidly, bouncing with amusement. Katerina watched, her throat so dry that each tiny breath clawed at the back of her skin, making it itch and burn. She coughed quietly again, concealing her lips with the back of her hand. Vaas swirled around with hilarity, clutching onto a small plastic carton, half-filled with precious clear liquid. Saliva filled her mouth, as she glared eagerly, tracing her tongue across her dry lips. Vaas chuckled at her pitiful desperation, drawing the carton to his lips and taking a long swig of the cold water. Katerina watched restlessly as water droplets escaped from the corners of his lips, trickling down his chin, down his steaming neck and onto his hard chest. It was tempting for her to swiftly scurry over to him like a ravenous animal and lick every droplet of water from his skin. She gnawed at the inside of her cheek as she studied his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed the vital fluid. Her eyes began to swell as she watched the volume of water decrease and decrease some more. She glanced away with grief, reluctant to witness the last droplets of water being slurped up by the cruel savage. Vaas brought the carton away from his wet lips with a chuckle.

"Here, there's a little left for you." he chuckled with a wicked sneer as he tossed Katerina the carton. She was too weak to even attempt to catch it. Before she could move her arms an inch or stretch out her fingers, the plastic carton smashed against her arm and collided against the floor beside her ankles. Her eyes widened to the sight and she quickly rushed over to reach for it, quickly and clumsily unscrewing the top to get to the few drops of precious, life-saving liquid that she desperately needed.

Only a few drops splashed onto her dry tongue. Anger boiled up in her tired body, and she was ready to explode like a kettle set to boil. Though she knew portraying her anger would only make matters worse - how would the psychopath react to it? He was unpredictable. He could laugh, scream, attack or shoot, or even just ignore it. It was just the look of the draw. So instead, she scrunched up her nose and lobbed the empty carton beside he feet. Her head bowed to the floor in which her matted hair hung over her face and brushed against the floorboards, hanging over her head like a net.

"You seem disappointed." Vaas exclaimed with a raised eyebrow and folded arms, "was you expecting the whole carton? You greedy you."

Katerina lifted her head and snarled, flicking the thick tangled mess of hair from her face. "I was expecting a little more than a few drops, yes."

"Some get nothing sweetheart."

Katerina only shook her head, not bearing the strength to banter with the cruel savage. Her lip trembled as she gnawed down on it - wincing to the pain in her chest and stomach, as if her rib cage was collapsing on her and he stomach was shriveling up into a ball of dust. _Please,_ she prayed in her thoughts, grasping tightly onto her stomach as she studied the cracks in the floorboards, _I know my body can barely cope with this, but I will not die yet. I refuse to be defeated by hunger and dehydration. Can this be hell? If a hell even exists. _

"You could persuade me..."

"What?"

"Persuade me. How desperately do you need a drink? Hmm?"

"Fuck off Vaas."

He chuckled, a deep chilling cackle, and ambled over to Katerina, striding over to her with an unsettling predacious manner. He crouched beside her, grasping onto her chin and hauling her head to his direction. His body snaked closer to her, and Katerina grimaced and yanked her head away, crumpling her nose irately and sealing her lips tightly shut. She tried to free her head from his harsh clutch but Vaas' hold was tight and secure, and Katerina was too weak; too frail to struggle now. She studied the small water droplets that were speckled on his lips. The sight of any water made her mouth moist, and her throat burn. She needed water to survive, and she wasn't getting any. What would that lead to?

His tongue traced the borders of his lips, snapping off any remaining water droplets that clung to his skin, with his head bowing closer to her. Katerina squeezed her eyes shut, listening to the quickening beat of her heart. The strong scent of liquor flooded her nose, and for a moment made her dizzy. She suddenly felt warm, the pleasing, tranquil feeling you get when you cradle into a ball beside a roaring fire. She was roused from that by a rough, sensual force against her lips, and gasped, opening her eyes to discover that her capturer's lips had collided brusquely against hers and that his body had concaved onto her small frame, pinning her down like an animal as his lips lavished her lips, trapping her in his embrace.


	12. Broken

**I would first just like to say a huge thank you to anyone who is giving this fic a read. Honestly it means a lot. Oh, and thank you ****also to anyone who has commented, favor****ited or followed this story, it keeps me writing it and again is really appreciated. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter, and sorry this was a little later than when I normally post it. Enjoy ~**

**WARNING - THIS CHAPTER FEATURES A RAPE SCENE WHICH IS QUITE GRAPHIC. **

His movements were quick, and sudden. Katerina went to strike Vaas with her fist but her arm was stuck and she couldn't move – being trapped by Vaas' hand. His body grazed against her bare skin, his hand burying her arm roughly into the floor as he continued to kiss her, ramming his tongue into her mouth. Katerina growled into Vaas' mouth, rapidly jolting her head to the side in an attempt to get him off of her. Though her attempts were futile, as his body sank further into hers and his mouth rammed more forcefully against her lips – his nose skimming her skin as he buried his head deeper into her face.

Vaas slowly ran his hands viciously up Katerina's neck, his fingers stroking her velvet skin, as Katerina wailed quietly, squeezing her eyes shut and digging her nails into her palms. Vaas grinned wickedly, callously trailing his hands up her legs. Her hand reached up to his shoulder in which she clawed at it chaotically, kicking her legs and screaming into Vaas' mouth as she rocked her body violently on the floor.

His mouth finally lifted from hers - the corners of his mouth stretched into a grin, with his tongue trailing across his lips, "Mmmm," he purred, sticking out his tongue and licking her lips.

"Fuck you!" Katerina spat, fear creeping into her voice, making it shudder.

"What was that?" Vaas snapped, his expression suddenly solemn and riled. He pursed his lips in disappointment and cocked his eyebrow, awaiting an answer. Vaas snarled and pulled out his gun. Katerina yelped at the chilling metal biting at her skin.

"Are you purposely trying to piss me off?" he growled.

Katerina shook her head quickly, barring her mouth together tightly but then wincing at the pain from her newly punctured lip. "No…" she croaked, tears swelling in her shiny eyes, and streaming down her cheeks. Vaas watched with curiosity as Katerina's lip trembled. She chocked on her muffled whimpers, and looked up to her capturer, pleading "Please..."

Vaas chuckled, his gun slowly colliding off her skin, "and what are you pleading for, eh? What do you fuckin' expect me to do chica? Hmm? Let you go?"

Katerina swallowed her whimpers and shook her head, tears flying from her face. Vaas chuckled again, though it was louder, and threw the gun behind him brashly. "So," he whispered, grasping viciously onto her chin, leaning his head closer to hers, "let's have a little fun, eh?" He laughed again, his thumb grazing the borders of her jaw.

Katerina interrupted, her voice dry and shaken from her whimpers, "I…"

Vaas pursed his lips and hissed, pressing his finger against Katerina's lips to silence her, "Shhh. Don't fuckin' speak. Shut up, and stop crying."

Katerina looked away as Vaas bowed his head beside her. She clenched her teeth in ire as the savage viciously trailed his tongue across her lip. Her eyes squeezed shut and she squealed quietly when his tongue roughly brushed against the gash in her lip. _Will this be the end of me? This will be the breaking of me._ Katerina thought, blinking her eyes quickly to eradicate the tears that strained to seep from her glassy eyes.

Without any warning, he took her viciously by the hips and flipped her around with one hand, so that she landed on her stomach with the ruthless animal on top of her. His violent movements were so quick and so abrupt that Katerina's head volleyed forwards and smashed against the wood of the floor. Her palm cupped her forehead as she groaned in pain, her head throbbing and shaking. Stars scattered over the blinding bright room and made her dizzy. Her eyes scanned the wooden floor, and it seemed to shake violently side to side. _Had an earthquake gone off, or something? _She asked herself, as she buried her throbbing head into the rough floorboards.

She heard the shrill horrific noise of Vaas unzipping his fly and trembled to the sickening sound of it. His fingers grazed against her spine and she quivered, digging her face into the floor and clawing at the floorboards. The was no other warning before he roughly seized her hips and hauled them towards him, viciously sheathing his body inside of hers in one quick, brutal thrust. She cried out, but silenced herself, biting down onto her bottom lip, ignoring the shower of blood that oozed from her mouth.

His hands grabbed hungrily at her body, at her stomach and up to her chest, were he wildly brushed of her bra and roughly groped at her breasts. Katerina clenched her jaw, whimpering silently through her teeth as Vaas roughly rocked her body like a savage animal, gripping her roughly by the hips and wrenching her closer to his body. She whimpered to the chilling growls and harsh grunts that echoed from his lips, and shivered at the hot sweat that dripped onto her back and ran down her waist. She studied the cracks in the floor; listened out for any footsteps outside. Gunshots, callous laughter, glass bottles shattering into pieces, vicious barks of fierce dogs, the rustling of trees, or the moan of the wind. Anything, to block out the ghastly groans of the ferocious cruel beast above her.

It had got to a point in which Katerina felt that she could not go on anymore. As if her body was going to collapse on her or wither up and disperse. She could barely hold up her head or bare the heavy weight on her shoulders. It felt like it had been going on for hours and hours, and she was fretful that it would never end, and all the time she was soundlessly pleading for it stop, holding in the whimpers and the screams and focusing on other things to try and block out what was happening to her. How was this happening to her? Why was the happening? One moment she was celebrating on her friend's yacht, sipping champagne and dancing to rubbish music from the radio but not giving a damn because she was having such a great time. Then it hurdled to this. Being abducted by a brutal, unpredictable psychopath slaver, drug smuggler, murder… or whatever he was, and being violated by him as if she was a machine without feeling or awareness, created only for his pleasure. It sickened her to think that she actually thought that this was not going to happen. Yes, she expected it at first. It was inevitable. He picked her like a lone rose in a garden shop, and chose to keep her. What else did he want her for? But nothing happened. She was beginning to think that the savage had a heart, or actually cared or had some compassion and humanity hidden somewhere inside of him. Wrong. She was so wrong. He was dangerous, he was brutal and he was cruel. There was nothing more to him than that.

At last the savage stopped, lightly kicking the girl's limp body to the floor with the side of his boot so that she flopped to the floor like a dead animal. He stood up, straightening his back, exhaling deeply and zipping his fly back up. He grinned, evil cackles seeping from his lips as he snapped the sweat from his brow. "Did you enjoy that?" he chuckled, glancing down at the girl who lay depleted beside his feet – she glared coldly at the cracks in the floorboards, barring her bloody lip shut and cradling her broken body into a ball. "It's okay," he snickered, brushing his fingertips through his Mohawk and fixing his clothes, "I need no words."

Katerina flinched and hugged her body, burying her face into the floorboards, desperately holding back the tears and whines.

"Well, ta ta Chica, I'm off, but I'll be back later," he declared, with a slight cadence to his call, sauntering towards the door. He opened the door but before stepping outside he spun round quickly, and warned coldly, pointing at Katerina as she nervously watched him at the door, "don't fuckin' go anywhere!" He held a serious mien for a moment, but he then collapsed into an explosion of deep laughter. His laughter continued as he slammed the door shut and raced down the steps, leaving Katerina in the shack. _No point running – he locked the door, of course._

To Katerina's own surprise she did not cry. Part of her wanted to, as it may aid to her suffering, but no tears showered her cheeks and no solemn whines filled the room. She remained cold and impassive as stone, though, she did not know why. Had Vaas broken her that easy? Was she now his obedient pet that submitted to his every order? She did not want to be, but did that prove that she wasn't?

Finally a tear escaped from her eye, and trickled down her reddened cheek, and it glistened in the light. She smiled as she sobbed silently. _I guess that proves that I'm not a machine. _She mused, sitting herself up and hugging her body softly. She wiped the tear from her cheek with the back of her hand and snivelled, swallowing anymore cries that didn't get their chance to escape. She inhaled heavily and reached for her underwear that had been lashed on the floor, and quickly shimmied into them. Her shorts, for whatever reason, where not in the room.

Katerina would have sworn that it was night but the golden sun still glowed through the window. It was then when she realised how hot it was, and how humid it was in this room. Sweat accumulated on her brow and on the back of her neck. She sighed and dabbed her skin with the back of her hand. Her mouth was a desert, and her lips were cracked like dry mud. How much she yearned for a drink. The horrific ordeal of today and the sweltering heat added to her thirst. She needed water. She then gaged and held her stomach. It churned and twisted painfully, and growled like a wild animal. She was starving. Katerina couldn't even recall having anything proper to eat before she got to the island - she had been distracted from it before but now it growled, demanding food, making Katerina faint and feel nauseous. Her thirst added to her hunger and made her light-headed.

Needing to concentrate on other things she quickly shook her head and crawled towards the shards of glass that were scattered on the floor. Using some leftover fabric from her torn t-shirt, she picked up the treacherous shards and brushed them into a corner. She then organised glass bottles, and put the chair back beside the table, and fixed Vaas' bed - throwing the red blanket over the bed and then patting out any creases in it. She stood up, shaking on her still aching feet, and admired her work.

Suddenly she fell faint again and plummeted to the floor, landing clumsily on her back. She grunted as she hit the floor and scrambled backwards until her back knocked against the wall. She sat motionless, glaring at the door opposite her. She sighed, scanning her eyes away from the doorway, and drew he knees up to her chest, now noticing the grazes on her legs, and burrowed her face into her arm, drenching it with more tears. She snivelled again, and shook her head. "No, I won't be beaten." She protested, wiping her eyes with her thumb, "I will not shed anymore tears for him. I won't." She winced, brushing her fingertips across her head that throbbed and burned. She could smell his sweat on her skin. It sickened her.


	13. Desperation

Night had overrun the day and the moon had replaced the sun and glowed beautifully behind the archway of trees outside. It was a quiet night. No animals were stirring and the pirates seemed calmer and more tranquil, compared to their normal loud, obnoxious behaviour that they projected - most likely due to too many drinks or an overdose of the drugs they were growing. No, tonight they were silent. Even the timid captives had silenced their solemn cries and the moans of the breeze was just a distant memory. It was a warm night. The air was humid and still.

Katerina had been waiting for Vaas' next move for hours. She had been sitting on the cold floor, for what felt like an eternity, waiting, inspecting her fingernails, probing at the new cuts on her legs and curling her knotted her in her fingers. But nothing had happened yet. She was beginning to think that nothing ever will. _Where is he?_ She thought, in frustration. She knew he was eventually going to show up, it was his room right? But why did he have to drag it out so that it became a dreaded torment? It had been dark for hours and still he hadn't shown his face. Why? It was becoming really aggravating for her. Yes, she didn't really want to see him, in fact she would rather stay away from him, he was an evil, barbaric, brutal monster and she hated him, but she was cooped in his room like a hopeless pet confined to a small dark cage, so she had no choice but to see him again. But why the drag? It was agonising waiting in dismay. She didn't want to be caught off guard. Hence why she refused to shut her eyes and hence was she locked her gaze on the horrid red door and listened carefully for any noises outside which could be him. Seriously, where was he? She began counting the minutes a few hours after it turned dark. She was up to 176. Four more minutes and it would be another three hours. "Why isn't he here?" she groused with sigh, lobbing her face into the palm of her hand, "He said that he would be back later, didn't he? That did mean today, right?"

"185," she sighed, tugging at the ends of the blue fabric that was swathed around her tender feet, "186."

Katerina had even refused to move from where she was left, only ever getting up to retreat to a dark little box room at the back of the shack which was the bathroom, which unfortunately was just a hole in the ground – though she did expect that, so wasn't too shocked about it.

Was he ever going to show? The night was dragging and still not a whisper, from anyone. Normally this would put someone at ease but it startled Katerina, and made her wary. But it came to a point where she couldn't stop her eyelids from falling, and when her head fell to her shoulder her body became limp, and she slowly faded away into a slumber.

She awakened startled, the golden glow from the sun blinding her. Her body jolted in fright and she fell to the side, timidly glancing over to Vaas' bed, where the horrid man himself sat with both elbows resting on his knees, glaring avidly at Katerina as she collapsed to the floor. Her knotted hair fell over her head like a curtain and shrouded parts of her face. Though, even beneath the clump of hair you could still see the slowly healing graze across her cheek, along with the purple and red circular mark on her forehead above her eye, and a small bruise on her cheek bone, and the split in her bottom lip which looked agonizing for her. Vaas couldn't help but vaguely frown at what was in front of him, though he swiftly shook it off with an unnerving, fiendish smile. Katerina snarled in a discreet manner, _why is it that he always shows up like that? _She bitterly thought to herself, as she slowly sat up – her arms shaking as she pushed them on the ground. Her whole body trembled and she winced, clenching her teeth to the pain that flowed around her body. To make it worst her throat was burning like a blaze, her stomach muscles were painfully twisting and scrunching due to her hunger, and her head felt like it was going to explode. She needed water, desperately, and food, she needed something to eat, anything. She feared that she would wither away into nothing soon, but was still very afraid to ask Vaas for anything. Instead she sat there, barring her lips shut, smothering her whines, patiently and obediently waiting for Vaas to say or do something that would determine her fate.

The room was silent. Katerina turned her head to look at Vaas and parted her lips to speak, but she got cold feet and quickly shut them before he took notice. She inspected the floorboards, studying the cracks and the rusty nails. She then sighed and gnawed anxiously at her fingernails.

"Don't your bite your nails!" Vaas suddenly snapped, making her flinch. She glanced over to him and lowered her hand obediently, subduing one hand with the other, and returning her attention back to the floor.

"Did you fuckin' clean up in here?" he asked bitterly, raising his eyebrow and glancing coldly around the room.

_Finally took notice then_, Katerina thought to herself. She hesitantly peered up at him, her warm hazel eyes glassy, and nodded with a faint smile emerging from the corners of her mouth.

He chuckled, rising to his feet, "what, so you're my fuckin' maid now, eh?"

Katerina frowned in desolation. What was she expecting? A thank you? Yes, the chances of some gratitude being shown were slim, but still, it would have been nice to see.

"I have something for you!" Vaas suddenly declared, his voice bouncing with jest and delight, as he bounced towards the door.

Katerina quickly snapped her head up to look at him, and blurted out the first word that came to mind, "water?"

Vaas stopped, erupting into deep cackles, looking back to Katerina with his hand resting on the door handle.

"Water?" he chuckled, his chest quaking as he snickered in amusement. He shook his head and laughed some more- his laughter more brash and loud. "No, no," he chortled, swinging the door open with one hand and slowly strolling outside, "Water? Not fuckin' water. Ha."

Vaas was gone, leaving the door open as he left. She couldn't understand why he did that. Was he testing her? Katerina didn't want to risk escaping. She could hardly bear the strength to stand, never mind dashing out of the door and racing past Vaas, escalating the risk of being shot in the back of the head. She sighed, coughing against the back of her hand, her throat burning from how dry it was. She needed water. Her head pounded from dehydration and her body began to slowly sink into the floorboards as if it was quick sand. She needed water. She was desperate.

Katerina hadn't bothered to peer up from the floorboards when Vaas sauntered in. He stopped beside her, his heavy daunting black boots in Katerina's direct view. She shivered. Even the sight of his feet made her tremble, more now than ever. Vaas crouched beside her, a ravenous killer, but Katerina whipped her head to the side, avoiding eye contact with him and instead glared at the floor, trembling to the horrid gust of warm breath that was colliding against her neck and face.

"Look!" he declared in an odd jovial tone.

Swallowing her breath, Katerina turned her head and examined what he had brought. In his hand he held her black demin shorts, her eyes widened to the sight of them – she was convinced that he had thrown them away, well that was a relief.

"They dried in the sun, if you want them, didn't see any point in throwing them away. Aren't I kind for keeping these for you?" he said with a smile, but detecting that her expression had not changed, he scowled, growling, "What, don't you want them? Am I not being gracious? What, were you expecting a fucking pony because i'm fine to throw this away!"

Katerina gasped, shaking her head vigorously, then she gasped again squeezing her eyes shut. She quickly opened her eyes and nodded, but then shook her head again.

"Do you fucking want it or not? Do you think i'm fucking bullshitting you, or something?"

"No, no," she finally managed to mutter, her voice cracked due to her dry throat, "I mean, yes, no erm... thank you… Vaas."

Vaas clicked his tongue, and chuckled wickedly, jumping to his feet and tossing the shorts to Katerina once standing above her. Katerina awkwardly stepped into her shorts – still sitting on the ground – then peered up to look at Vaas.

"Vaas?" she nervously called, clearing her throat.

"What?"

"Please, can I... I need water."

Vaas chuckled, leaning against his table as he pulled out a cigarette and a match from the back pocket of the green jeans he wore, "Did I not give you water yesterday?"

"Well… hardly."

Vaas cocked an eyebrow and chuckled, with the cigarette in his mouth. He quickly scratched the match across the table and carefully brought the blaze to the tip of his cigarette. He shook the match so that the flame dispersed, and then he placed the used match in his pocket. He took hold of the cigarette with two fingers and took a long, deep drag, then slowly blew the grey smoke out from his lungs. Katerina coughed, and ran her tongue across her lip – the smoke made her throat burn. Was he doing this on purpose?

Vaas glanced down, and kicked the empty carton towards Katerina. She flinched, and frowned after studying the carton. It was empty. Not a single drop.

"No water left Chica."

"Vaas please."

Taking one more drag of the cigarette he ambled towards her, gently grasping her by the chin and hauling her to her feet. He took the cigarette from his mouth and blew the smoke behind his shoulder. He stroked her jaw delicately with his thumb. "Fine," he grunted, "let's fucking get you a drink then, since you need it so badly. Fuck i'm being too fuckin' nice these days."

"Thanks."

Vaas pursed his lips and pointed towards the door.

"Wait. We're going out."

"That's where the water is, and I'm not fuckin' getting it for you. This isn't a fuckin' hotel. You can get it yourself chica; i'm not babysitting you." he grunted, his tone was mocking her, but she didn't take much notice. Outside, she was going outside, when the sun was shining. She could almost feel the heat on her skin, and keenly strolled over to the door – momentarily ignoring the pain in her feet.

"Wait!" he snapped.

Katerina halted, waiting by the door, anxiously looking back to Vaas who still hadn't moved. She prayed that he hadn't changed his mind. She really needed a drink, and she yearned to be out in the sun, for even just a moment.

"Do you really want to be going out like that chica? No, you're not fucking going out like that." he warned, trudging over to his wardrobe and leaning his body inside. "Here." Leaning out of the wardrobe he chucked her a piece of red fabric. She was surprised that she actually caught it and silently mouthed "yes!" when she firmly snatched it in the air. She cocked an eyebrow at Vaas then glanced back down to what he had tossed her. She unfolded it and discovered it was a red tank top - one of _his_ red tank tops. Katerina clenched her teeth, did he expect her to wear that?

"I'm not having any of the men out there fuckin' eyeballing you like you belong to them, cus' you don't, you belong to me, you are mine, and I don't like sharing. Plus, i'm sure you would much prefer not to saunter outside with your breasts on show, would you?" "So you can wear that… used to be mine. Did I throw your shirt away? What happened to it? No, no, don't answer me. I actually don't give a fuck. Just put that on will you."

Katerina gritted her teeth, releasing a sigh before slipping the vest over her head. The smell hit her first – it smelt just like him. The thick, overwhelming scent of liquor, salt, and marijuana. Perfect. She hated the smell of alcohol at the best of times, and never understood while people were obsessed on drinking the acid most nights, even every night. For some reason this smelt worse, and the sickly scent made her gag. She wondered why it was worse here? Perhaps it was a different alcohol, or maybe the alcohol was stronger? Or maybe, for some odd reason, it was used to clean the shirt. Though, if that was the case, she wouldn't get the horrid aroma of marijuana flooding her nose, making her stomach churn and her head faint.

"Thank you," she said politely, trying her best to paint a smile on her face. In truth she wanted to lob it back in his face - she was certain that the smell would eventually flip her stomach over and make her vomit. Nonetheless, she knew lobbing Vaas' shirt back at his face would be a death wish, and she wasn't ready to make her will yet.

He marched over to her, his face stuck in a scowl. He took her by the arm and pushed her backwards, away from the door. She now stood behind him, and he shadowed over her, as if he the baleful pirate was guarding her… or blocking her, preventing her from going anywhere but where he wanted to go.

"When we go out Kat, you will not talk to anybody, no, no, no, no, you won't even look at anybody, got it? You will remain in my shadow, so don't even think about going anywhere else. Disobey me and I will put a fucking bullet in your head, okay?"

Katerina nodded, her body juddering slightly from the shooting pain in the soles of her feet, and the tone of his voice.

"Grab that carton and lets go." he ordered.

Katerina nodded, quickly scrambling to the carton and coiling her arms around it – hugging the carton into her chest. Hastily she bowed her head, and scurried to be beside Vaas, as he ordered. She patiently waited for him to open the door, saliva building up in her mouth as she studied the carton.

"Kat, don't fucking disappointment me."


	14. Water Jugs

**Hi, i'm here with a new chapter :D In this chapter i've tried something a little different with how I portray Kat's emotions, by making her thought dialog a little more common. I would love to know if you think his works well and if you liked the chapter, so please review as it is much appreciated. :D x**

**Like always, thank you so much for giving this a read! Enjoy ~**

* * *

As Vaas opened the door, the yellow light from outside shined into Katerina's golden orbs, blinding her for a few seconds, until she adjusted to the light contrast. _Gosh, it's bright!_ Katerina thought, as she eagerly peered outside, _I guess it shows how dark it is in here. Fucking hell Vaas needs more windows in here. Or a better light at least. _Katerina gently bit down anxiously onto the side of her lip, trying to avoid the gash engraved in her flesh, and squirmed anxiously on her feet – movements that a child would do when hungrily awaiting the rewards that their parents or guardians had promised to fetch for him or her. She continued to bob up and down, giving Vaas' back a piercing, irked glance. Rolling her eyes she thought in frustration, _Ugh, can you just move out the way? Please? Please, please Vaas just move, you're blocking the sunshine with your stupid fat head! Well… it's not a fat head. Far from it. I guess it's not stupid either. Ugh, shut up Kat. Vaas, can we go please? Please? _"While the sun is still shining."

Katerina froze, and clamped her mouth shut – her hazel eyes wide and wary. _You never speak your thoughts aloud Kat, never, never, never! Fuck! Why do I have to be so stupid? Great, he's not going to let me go out now, I'm going to die in here – in the dark. He's going to shut that door and never let me see the sunshine again, and then I'm going to die. Die from dehydration and starvation because it's highly likely, no, almost definite, that he won't bring me anything. He will leave me with nothing because I'm so ignorant and impatient. Fuck, why must I blurt out everything I think? Why am I such an idiot!_ _Bye sun! Bye cruel life! No, fuck you life! You did this to me, you fucking bitch! Damn it, I really wanted to go out! No, I really need a drink. Please, honestly, I'm going to shrivel up and die if I do not get some water. Fuck!_

Vaas' shoulders trembled from his low, growling laughter, and then his head turned, and he glared at Katerina with jest flooding in his hypnotic, brown eyes. "What?" he chuckled, stretching his mouth into a wide grin – bearing his crystal white teeth. Katerina gloomily peeked up to glimpse up at him. She raised an eyebrow slightly once she began inspecting his teeth. _How?_ She mused, completely oblivious that Vaas had just asked her an important question, _his teeth! He's a pirate, not fucking Simon Cowell, how on earth can his teeth be that white? How can they be that straight? Imagine it, Vaas, the pirate lord of Rook Islands, having braces when a kid. That image makes him seem more normal, but how on earth are they so perfect? I don't even think my teeth can compete with his. Great... now he'll snarl at how my imperfect my teeth are. _

"Hello!" he called, – his voice bouncing with amusement – snapping his fingers in Katerina's face, "you in fuckin' wonderland there?" She flinched and shook her head, blinking several times to return herself to reality. Bashfully she glanced back up, with her lips barred together.

"Now, where you trying to provoke me chica?" he whispered with a scornful sneer, "or was you just trying to be funny?"

"None. I… I don't even know why said it, sorry."

He chuckled once more, shaking off his shoulders and leisurely stepping outside, and trotting haughtily down the uneven wooden steps of his shack. Katerina smiled, secretly, as she swiftly scurried behind him, trying her hardest to keep up with his quick movements. Her arms wrapped securely around the plastic carton she had hugged to her chest, and she kept her grip tight, like a mother with her child – this was the one most important thing to her right now, remember, she desperately needed that water.

The fresh humid jungle air surrounded Katerina like steaming hot water from a bath, relaxing her aching muscles and unblocking her clogged mind. She felt good to finally be outside. Katerina scrunched her nose and stuck her face in a discreet scowl as she glared at the floor. She felt a sickly sort of comfort to be close to him like this, she felt that she was safe, and that she was protected when he was beside her – no other pirates would harm her this way, as he was their leader and he made it clear that she was _his_. Was it wrong for her to feel that way? She shook her head vigorously. Of course it was. Why was she feeling these outlandish, contemptible feeling towards the man that harmed her? She shook her head again. There were no feeling. She only felt safe around him – in a strange, peculiar sort of way. That was all. She sighed, _I better not be developing fucking Stockholm syndrome. If I am I'm fucked and might have to shoot myself._

Katerina was not blind to what she was wearing. Her black demin shorts were quite short, and did draw added attention to her plump bottom and also, did not conceal her flawless legs, which were even more noticeable in the sun. She was thankful that the top she was wearing this time was not wet and see-through, and that she wasn't left in just her bra like when she escaped– yet, it was dark that time – which meant that she was more concealed. However, Vaas was much taller, and his torso was wider and much more robust than Katerina's, so obliviously Vaas' red tank top did not fit her well. It fell too low, so that the top of her black bra could been seen, and the straps fell of her shoulders. It did not hide her. Luckily, the carton she embraced was quite large, and she hugged it closely to help hide her chest – she really didn't want the other pirates gawking at her like a treasured prize for them to leap on. _Was Vaas actually being kind when he handed me this? _She pondered to herself as she hobbled behind him_. It was being used to help conceal most parts of my body, and it meant that the other barbaric pirates wouldn't glare at me with open mouths, with drool escaping from the corner of their lips._ Katerina inhaled, and the sickly scent of Vaas flooded her nose again. _No, no… he was still a dick._

Katerina whimpered soundlessly as she reluctantly dragged her aching feet across the ground. The dry dirt and the rigid, bristly yellow grass clawed callously at the soles of her feet as she gently treaded on it – like a vicious animal who would attack anyone who scurried past. Without warning Vaas came to halt, and Katerina – being too distracted by the pain that the ground was inflicting onto her – ineptly knocked into his body, nearly dropping the carton onto the floor. All other pirates suddenly stopped chattering away, and stopped cleaning their barbaric, black weapons and instead glared at the girl who clumsily rammed her body into their leader. Vaas looked up at them and snarled, "What the fuck are you gawking at, eh?" he snapped. Already the pirates went back to work, picking up used plates and polishing guns, "get the fuck back to your work!" Vaas barked, glancing down to Katerina, who stood with uncertainty on her aching feet. "Sorry," she muttered, burrowing the carton into her chest.

Vaas quickly took her by the chin and yanked her head to left, so that she glared at a mudded path that was surrounded by towers of crates at bottles, opposite her. Here wild, pastel green bushes grew chaotically and vines stretched their arms across to every piece of emaciated furniture, tangling their vines around the suffocated objects. At the end of the stretching path were several large blue jugs that messily mounted on withered wooden tables, with white spigots attached to their faces. Water! Never in all of Katerina's life had she been so relieved to see that special, sacred clear liquid. Her mouth grew moist to the sight of it. She need it, she need it now.

"Go fetch me some more water, yeah?" Vaas ordered, patting her gently on her shoulder, "and you can indulge on as much of it as you want. Okay?"

Katerina nodded, hypnotised by the precious, life-saving liquid that called to her like something in a dream. "Only go there. Do not go anywhere else." He warned, his voice stern and cold. "I will be standing…" he took her by the arm and spun her around, whistling and pointing to a group of pirates that buried their heads into a table – engrossed on whatever paperwork that was scattered on the desk – "over there. Watching. So don't try and fuckin' run off again, okay Kat. Otherwise, I'm afraid I will have to shoot you. Talk to or eye anyone and again, that includes my hostages, I'm afraid I will have to shoot you, okay? Now, you're not going to disappoint me, are you chica?"

Katerina shook her head, "no." she replied boldly, glancing up into his brown eyes.

Vaas grinned, and patted her, like a pet, on her cheek and quickly ambled towards the pirates he pointed to, that were only a few yards away.

_Okay, it not far away. I can easily do this. Easy! Just gotta' keep my mouth shut and keep my eyes locked only on the water and I'm fine. Easy! Easy!_

Katerina kicked her feet, and rushed towards the path, scurrying through the archway of broken crates and tangled vines, towards the water jugs. Her eyes grew wide as she glared at the crystal clear water that filled the jugs. It was unbelievable on how lucky she felt at this moment. Vaas had actually allowed her to go off on her own to get water. On her own! Without him there beside her, trapping her in his strong hold. Yet… he was still watching. But things could only get better, right? Katerina hoped that they would anyway.

Carefully, Katerina unscrewed the plastic container she had hold of and rested it beneath the mouth of the white spigot. She turned the spigot and watched in wonder as water bubbles bobbed to the top of the water as the volume decreased. Her tongue raced across her dry lips as the water flooded into her container. She held it carefully, ensuring that no drop was spilt. She had to do this right – not wanting to displease the potent pirate who was watching. When the container was full she brought it to her lips and drank. The water rushed down her throat and flushed across her lips, taking the dryness and burning rawness away with it. She drank and drank until she felt sick. When she parted the container from her mouth she licked her lips, snatching any droplets of cold water that clung to her skin, and then she refilled the container until it was full again, screwing the top tightly on. Done. She was done. That was easier than she thought. Again she felt that she could stand properly and her head relaxed and retreated closer to normality. Though… she was still hungry, starving in fact.

Currently, Vaas was looking away, absorbed in an argument of some sort with the pirate that stood beside him. The snapped at each other, pointing angrily at the papers on the table, though the pirate was reluctant to raise his voice or argue much more with Vaas. Katerina giggled at that. It amused her. He was powerless. Vaas was the only one with the mouth on this island, and the crushed pirate knew it.

It was secluded here. The crates and bushes stopped anyone from peering inside this place. Could Vaas even see her from her? As Katerina stretched her legs out to retreat closer to Vaas' view she tripped, stumbling over her feet, dropping the jug of water she had hugged to her chest – watching it roll to the floor. A figure came behind her and rushed to the jug, stopping it with his callous, black boot. Katerina reluctant looked up, tightly crossing her arms against her chest. A pirate stood in front of her, a frightening wicked grin glued to his disgusting, barbaric face. Katerina lifted her head to peer for Vaas, but the pirate was blocking her view. He was close to her, too close.

"Hello gorgeous what are you doing out here, shouldn't you be with everyone else." The pirate didn't even let her respond and continued, his lips dripping with callous venom, "oh well. Means I can have your ass all to myself."

"Don't touch me! You'll be sorry!" Katerina muttered, shuffling backwards.

The pirate circled her, like a shark, sniggering and scanning her with hungry eyes. He suddenly jolted towards her and smacked his hand rudely across her ass, so that she sprung up into the air – releasing a small squeal as her body flinched.

"Fuck off!" she barked, stumbling backwards.

"What did you say to me you little bitch!"

Before Katerina couldn't even think about what do next he was on top of her, ramming her to the ground with his enraged body, snaking his hands across her body as she squirmed beneath. He was heavy, and she did not have the strength to fight him. His fist smashed against her jaw. Katerina yelped, a vast amount of blood pouring from the recent gash in her cheek and her lip. She tried to quickly scramble away, clawing at the ground with her fingernails and lurching her body to tunnel through the dry dirt. A callous hand darted to Katerina's head, in which it ruthlessly snatched a curtain of her matted hair and tugged at it viciously, so that her head lifted from the ground. Then the pitiless pirate delivered another brutal blow to her. She yelped again as more warm blood oozed from her burning skin on her throbbing face.

"I'm going to fuck you!" he growled, he hands abruptly trailing up Vaas' shirt that she worn, "so stay the fuck still you little cunt!"

Never in her life had she heard something so evil and barbaric. It was frightening to her, and rang like an alarm in her ears. She could not let this happen to her again, especially not by this barbaric, repulsive monster. Feeling that she could do nothing else she screamed as loud as she could, jolting her body as she released her penetrating shriek of panic. Though her screech only lasted a second, as the pirate quickly smashed his palm against her lips with one hand, and yanking the rim of her shorts with another. Katerina lifted her hand to his face and clawed at his skin, biting at the palm of his hand and screaming, kicking her heels into the muddy ground. The pirate went for her neck, coiling his rough fingers around her skin and tightening his malicious grasp. Katerina rolled her eyes to the back of her skull as she felt herself slipping away. Tears brimmed her eye lashes as the monster yanked the shorts from her body, his jagged nails scratching against her skin. Katerina gasped for breath as his grip loosened around her neck, yet still it stayed tight. Katerina squeezed her eyes shut, pleading in her thoughts, _please let it be quick._

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**Enjoyed this chapter? What do you think is going to happen next? Please, leave a comment to tell me your thoughts xx Thank you so much for reading this FanFic, as always I am very grateful that your giving it a read :)**


	15. Insanity

Bang! The shrill, chilling echo of a gunshot echoed through the humid air and bounced of the withered wooden shacks in the camp. The air fell silent, as if the whole world had stopped spinning at that moment. Nothing could be heard, there was no wind, no cries from animals – or people – just nothing. Perhaps the world had stood still. Perhaps not.

The vile pirate that had thrashed his repulsive, grimy body onto Katerina and leapt to his feet. He took the bandana that was attached to his belt and used it to wipe his brow that dripped with hot sweat. He stood there, his body hunched and low, timidly twisting the bandana in his fists as Katerina lay beneath him – gasping for breath and holding back her whimpers. Her face was covered in her blood that had even seeped to her neck and onto Vaas' shirt. Her shorts were tangled around her ankles, trembling and sniffling she lent down to reach for them and shimmied into them, still on the floor, with the dry grass swathing around her legs, pinning her to ground and keeping her locked in an embrace. She refused to look up, and instead glared at the pallid grass, and crossed her arms tightly across her chest.

"V…boss," the repulsive pirate finally stuttered, still twisting the bandana in his sweaty hands, "erm… I…"

"So, was you unaware of the girl's situation? Eh?" His voice was sharp and vicious and clearly irritated. It appeared that he was attempting to swallow his anger and try and keep calm as his voice was cracked and shaken – but this was due to fury alone. His voice was definitely imitating. It was frightening, and the look painted on the sweating pirate's face supported this. Every word, every syllable, was sending shivers up his skin and making his body jolt. Katerina even quivered to the shrill sound of it.

It was Vaas, of course. Katerina let out a shaken sigh of relief once she heard his voice. She had never thought that she would be so glad and grateful to see or hear him – or have him near. She thought that she would always wish to be away from him, not be thankful that he was close by. If he didn't show up… well, she didn't even want to imagine what would have happened. Though, she only wished he showed up sooner, but, she couldn't ask for the world, not in her position anyway.

"Did you not know," Vaas continued, his tone growing with rage, and it oddly even trembled with minor hilarity, "not to touch other people's things? Eh?" His temper was escalating, and his voice intensified dynamically, to a point where he was almost screaming at the pirate. He continued, stepping closer, shaking his hand in the air, chuckling as he moved. "More importantly! Did you not fuckin' know…" his voice was a hostile, livid scream now - a screech that was so frightening, that even the grass began to wither. To Katerina, it felt that the ground was shaking due to the horrific thunder that was his voice. She trembled to the sound, and squeezed her eyes shut, mentally trying to block out the distressing roar. "That no one, not fucking anyone! Touches, my fuckin' things! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Did you not fuckin' now that? Is it not clear to you? Is this fuckin' gibberish, am I speaking nonsense? Hey? Well fuckin' answer me you little prick! It will be pathetic to label you as a pirate. Look!" he pointed at him, laughing and waving his hands to the sky – obviously mocking the shaken pirate, "here he fuckin' is! A pirate! Yes, this is who we should fear, a fuckin' lump of meat that sweats like a fuckin' pig, and fuckin shakes when you ask him a simple fucking question! Ha ha! This is what we have! These are our pirates! This is who my men are!" "Is it?" Vaas stalked over to him, like a predator – his eyes growing with hunger and ire – and stood beside Katerina, his hard, striking combat boots beside her shoulder. The shaken pirate stumbled backwards, now, to her relief, further away from Katerina. Vaas looked the pirate directly into his pale eyes and bitterly asked, "Is it? Is that what I want from my men?"

"No."

"Great, then fuckin' answer my question!"

"Vaas look, I'm so, so, deeply sorry. I didn't know that the bitch was yours."

"Don't!" Vaas clenched his fists in the air and squeezed his eyes shut – an expression that any person would so when someone playfully throws an invisible object in their face, or when someone spoils an episode of Game of Thrones, or something to similar to that. He inhaled deeply, almost whistling through his gritted teeth. His eyes sprang open and he barked, "Don't be so fuckin' rude. She's right here." He gestured to Katerina with his hand and chucked.

"Vaas, I'm so sorry man. I would have never of touch that b… never have touch her if I knew she was yours. Boss I know to never touch your things. If I knew, I wouldn't have even looked at her. I just thought she was one the others. So, I'm sorry boss."

Vaas glared at him for a moment. Not speaking, not blinking not even breathing. Then suddenly he shook his head and beamed, a serene, courteous smile – as if nothing had just happened. They both laughed and Vaas patted his shoulder, consoling the pirate in a pleasant tone, "don't even worry about it amigo, you didn't know right?"

"Right!"

They both laughed. Vaas scratched his nose and shooed him away with a hand gesture.

The pirate smiled and confidently ambled away, his shoulders back and his back straight again.

"Hermano!" Vaas suddenly called.

The pirate spun around to face his leader and smiled, "yeah Vaas?"

"Come here."

The pirate's grin dropped but he still sauntered over to his leader – as he knew that you never, never defy your leader, especially if the leader was as crazy, and ruthless and unpredictable as Vaas. But perhaps that meant not obeying his order would be more sensible…

Vaas chuckled and gestured for the pirate to come even closer. Katerina tensed as the pirate shuffled his feet through the grass to be besides Vaas, and unfortunately besides her too.

"What's wrong boss?"

Vaas only chuckled before swiftly pulling out his knife and plunging it into the pirate's neck. With the other hand, Vaas detained his head, as he pirate choked on his own thick suffocating blood that spurted from his mouth. Katerina watched terrified, with her mouth open wide. Vaas looked at the pirate in the eyes - his pale empty eyes - his face scrunching up into an angered scowl, before releasing him – hauling his knife out from his flesh so that he flopped to the ground like a lump of meat, just as Vaas previously described. Katerina lunged her body away before the dead pirate smashed against the ground. She yelped once the piece of meat crashed into the rigid bed of dry grass.

Katerina glared at the dead man that lay a few feet away from her, her heart pounding – ready to burst from her chest. Her breath quickened as she continued to look at it. She gritted her teeth and steadied her breathing – as tears began to swell in her eyes. Vaas clicked his tongue and crouched beside her, hovering next to her like an animal, a predator. He wiped his blade on the grass beside him, exhaling loudly – portraying his irritation. "You know," Vaas breathed, his voice still incensed, "I thought that I…"

Suddenly, Katerina rushed to him, wrapping her arms around his robust body and burying her face into his chest, exploding into a thunderous shower of tears and wails. Vaas glared at her, bewildered. What had just happened? His arms were raised in confusion and hesitation on what to do. Katerina waited for Vaas to abruptly push her of him and scream at her– the thought scratched at the back of her mind like an insect. But something entirely different happened. Vaas lowered his arms and wrapped them around her juddering body, hugging her gently to him. Was this really happening? Was Vaas allowing this to happen? Was the crazy, ruthless and unpredictable pirate lord allowing this girl to shower him with her tears? And was he comforting her? Katerina couldn't even believe it, but still she continued to cry. Her head buried further into his chest – even though it hurt her like hell - so that her wails became muffled and faint.

The pirate lord then spoke, angelic whispers of comfort, "shhh," he soothed, his voice soft and calming – a sweet sound that you would never expect to glide from his lips - "come on Katerina, I know your stronger than this. The worse didn't happen. Shhh, your fine. Come on Kat, amada, stop crying now."

She wanted to do what he said, but she couldn't. She had been so frightened, and she had to let these horrid feeling of anguish flush away. She also didn't want to lift her head – Vaas would be disappointed on how she lacked to defend herself. She was disappointed in herself. She couldn't believe she had to rely on Vaas to _rescue_ her. She couldn't believe she was thinking that word. Rescue. Who would have known that it was possible to put that word and Vaas' name in one sentence? Vaas rescuing her. She giggled soundlessly beneath her tears, _I guess Vaas really is unpredictable._ She thought as she continued to sob, her tears sinking through his shirt and onto his skin. _Was he really allowing me to cry into his chest? Was I really crying into his chest? Why was I doing this? What drove me to this? What entity plucked at the strings in my brain, to make me leap onto Vaas and… cry into him? This was insanity._

Two hands gently cupped the sides of Katerina's beaten face and lifted her from Vaas' chest. Vaas held her face in his palms and frowned. "I thought I told you not to talk to anyone," he sighed with a smile.

"I didn't." Katerina quickly objected, his voice cracked from her whines.

"I know, I know, calm down. Don't hurt yourself…anymore."

Vaas sighed and so did Katerina. She sulked, wincing at the pain in her face, it still continued to bleed and Katerina just began to notice that. She gaged and rushed her hand to her nose.

"Fuck!" Vaas spat, hauling Katerina to her feet as she bowed her head in the direction of the floor, blood dripping from her face onto the grass. "No! No!" Vaas snapped, shaking his head and lifting her head upwards. "You've fuckin' busted your nose…"

"I didn't…"

"Shut up and keep your head down. Pinch your nose here." Taking Katerina's hand he directed her to the bridge of her nose, in which she did as instructed. He then quickly ripped off his shirt and crumpled it into a ball, and gently placed it over her nose. She yelped but grasped the shirt anyway, and kept it pressed against her nose. "Keep that there to stop the bleeding," he ordered, his voice low and stern. He smiled and said in a jollier tone, "you already got blood on it."

She tried to laugh but only managed to muster a small, silent snigger that was overpowered by a yelp of pain. Vaas grimaced, his eyebrows arching over his eyes as he bit onto his tongue. "Fuckin' hell." He muttered under his breath, as he began marching away. "Stay there!" he called, his voice still riled and displeased. Where would she go?

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**O.o Enjoyed this chapter? Did you expect the sudden acts of compassion to come from Vaas? Please tell me in the comments! :D ****Like always thank you all for reading! Love you all! xx**


	16. Painkiller

**Hi! I'm here again, with another chapter! The reviews, follows, favs and views keep rising and honestly, that makes me so happy! You don't understand how grateful I am, so thank you! Please, keeps the reviews, favs, follows and views coming! Love you all! xx**

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Katerina felt sick. The thick humid air that surrounded her, clung to her skin like wet clothes, and made her body heavy. The air was no longer as indulgent as a hot bath, but clammy and suffocating. It wasn't even sunny, it was just warm – the annoying kind of warm. A horrid heat that is so annoying and useless, that you just wish that it was cold as that somehow would be much, much better. To make it worse, her stomach churned and twisted, painfully scrunching the muscles in her gut, and the blood that was oozing from her wounds made her gag, and made her head tremble from dizziness. She hated having nose bleeds – she was thankful that it was rare for her to have one. Experiencing one gave her a deadly urge to vomit - it made her sick. She hated it. Another thing she could hardly tolerate: waiting, she hated waiting like this. Why did she always have to wait on her own? Why couldn't he just take her with him? Where did Vaas go, anyway?

Her eyes scanned over to the dead body that was swamped in the rigid dry grass. _He got what he deserved_, she thought bitterly, lowing the blood-stained top from her nose and scowling angrily at the bulky body. _Fuckin' asshole. Pig! I'm happy that Vaas disposed of you._ _I wish I'd done it. Am I just a pathetic coward now? I should have killed you myself. I wish I had. _

Katerina sighed, keeping the shirt away from her face, and glared up into the sky. She studied the birds that flew freely above her, soaring from tree to tree. How great it must be to be that free. Having the will to go where ever you wanted, when you wanted. No one would say otherwise. _I will never have that again will I? _Katerina mused to herself as she continued to gaze at the gliding birds in the sky, _will I ever be that free?_

"What the fuck are you doing?" a familiar voice snapped. Katerina quickly snapped her head down, a small grin stretching at the corner of her bloody mouth - it was Vaas. Who else would it have been? Katerina couldn't tell if her saviour was addressing her in a humorous tone or a hoarse, irritated one. Sometimes there was never a difference in his tone of voice. "Put that back on your nose!" he barked, sauntering over to her, scratching at the side of his nose and scanning behind him as he got closer, "do you want to fuckin' bleed to death? And keep your head down!"

Katerina couldn't help but chuckle as she placed the shirt back to her nose. _That's bit dramatic Vaas,_ she thought as she continued to grin to herself. As Vaas walked over to Katerina he had hauled another top over his head – probably quickly darted back up to his room to fetch one. He didn't have nothing else with him. Did he really only go away to change into something? What if she _had_ bled to death?

His hand reached out to touch her. She gasped once he seized her arm and dragged her behind him. He wasn't being as rough and abrupt as he normally did, but still his movements were sharp. Did he forget that she had just been smashed multiply of times in the face?

He quickly led her back out of the twisted vines and the archway of crates, and led her up a path, staying away from open areas and keeping close to the hidden routes beside the wild bushes and subsiding shacks made of metal and wood. They reached a small shack – it was hidden away from all the others and was secluded on its own. Katerina actually felt nervous, and shuffled on her feet as she waited for Vaas to unlock the metal door that was lazily painted in black paint that was grimy and was peeling away.

Inside was a table and desk, littered with numerous papers and pens. There was also an ashtray on the table and surrounding it was grey ash that had gushed onto the table but also fluttered to the floor. The chair beside it was a blue armchair that was cushioned but withered and frayed. There was other things in here too, like metal drawers, a pile of books and a lush green plant in the corner – Katerina was surprised to that.

"Welcome to my office!" Vaas sang, waving his hand and guiding Katerina inside with his arm wrapped around her, "it's one of my shitter ones I must admit. Needs remodelling, you know? Hate being in here, but… it's quiet and no one comes here to disturb me that much so it's passable." His tone was again gleeful. Katerina could relax again now.

"Didn't know you had an office," Katerina muttered, her words cracked and muffled due to her injuries.

"Of course I do. I have a lot of fuckin' shit to do you know, I don't just laze around all day doing jackshit, and I don't really want all my work piled up in my room. Plus, you're in my room now so… can't have you rummaging through my stuff. And with that, while you're here, don't go fuckin' snooping."

"Not really in the mood for snooping."

Vaas laughed, and steered her towards the blue chair and sat her down in it. She lifted her head and glanced to the ceiling, pressing the shirt against her face_. When is this galling bleeding going to stop?_

Vaas retreated into an inner room at the back, but was only gone a moment and soon marched back in, with a bowl of water in his hands - with a rag floating in the centre of the clear glistening liquid – he also had a first aid box under his arm. He placed the bowl and first aid on the table – after shoving the papers aside - and rushed over to the corner of the room to snatch a wooden stool that had been chucked in the corner. He picked it up, swaying it in his fingers as he strolled over to Katerina, and placed the stool beside her, lobbing himself onto the wooden surface.

"We get a lot of busted noses around here," he sighed, prying the bloody shirt from Katerina's grasp, "so lucky for you, no doctor is needed." How was it lucky for her?

Vaas reached for the rag in the bowl and squeezed the water out of it with one hand. Katerina winced every time the rag touched her throbbing skin, but she was surprised that Vaas was being so gentle. This was Vaas wasn't it? It wasn't someone else?

"Is it really hurting that fuckin' bad?" Vaas snapped, pulling the rag away and waiting for Katerina to respond. Katerina wanted to say no but that would be a lie, every movement of her face made her skin sting and itch, and every time the rag touched it, and the water seeped into the wounds, her skin tightened and burned. The water was making her wounds burn. Katerina thought that water was supposed to extinguish a blaze and cool the heat, not burn. Katerina grimaced, tightening her face, and nodded, glaring at the floor.

Vaas' hot breath hit Katerina liked a gush of rough wind. Katerina didn't even release Vaas had got up until he sunk back into the stool, waving a pill beside her mouth.

"What's that?" Katerina asked, her voice high and cracked from suspicion.

"Painkiller."

"What painkiller?"

"Does it matter? It will help the pain. Do you fuckin' want it or not? I don't have to give it to you."

Katerina continued to glare at him with uncertainty but took the pill anyway, holding the yellow, rounded pill in her palm, inspecting it – reluctant to put it into her mouth. She then glared up the small glass of water Vaas had pushed towards her, and grasped onto it hesitantly, her fingers coiling around the damp glass, with her golden eyes scanning back down at the pill. Vaas chuckled, his chest quaking as he watched her inspect the tablet.

"Fuckin' hell Kat just take it. It's oxy."

"Oxycodone?"

"Yes."

"That's the stuff you get at the doctors right? Pain relief?"

"Yes."

"I think I've had that before." She smiled, and lifted the pill to her lips, placing it on her tongue, "Thanks."

"When you've had it though, it's only been five, ten, maybe fifteen milligrams. That one is forty."

"What!" Katerina chocked, as the pill slid down her throat. She coughed, bowing her head to floor.

"Fuck Kat, drink some more water and fuckin' swallow it, it's not going to fuckin' kill you."

Katerina coughed again, bringing the water to her lips – the glass quaking in her hand. Vaas chuckled again, knocking back a yellow pill for himself – not needing the water.

"Why did you give me that? People get addicted to that! What happened to a normal fucking painkiller!"

"Why would I have a normal painkiller? What's the point of taking a drug if you get nothing from it? Fuckin' waste of time that is amada. Use you head, think."

Katerina grasped her throat and stroked her fingers against in, still coughing silently. Vaas stretched his body over the table to reach for the rag, and drowned it in the water - crushing the rag tightly with his hand, so that the water rushed through his fingertips and back into the bowl. He brought the wet rag to Katerina's face and dabbed her skin again, brushing the fabric against her nose. This time she didn't wince.

"See. Feel better now?" he teased, stretching his words out sarcastically.

Katerina laughed, giggling like a child, "Wow! I can't feel a thing! It's like magic or something!" she said chirpily, fluttering her eyes as she looked up at him. "What are you doing?" she asked mischievously, her voice now calm and serene. She laughed, beaming and showing her teeth, with her eyes unwilling to stay focused on one spot. Vaas ignored her question, and just shook his head.

"You're lucky amada!" Vaas howled, his voice bouncing with jest, as he wiped the blood from her skin, "your nose isn't busted! It will only leave a mark at the top of your nose. I guess it just bled that much from the impact. How fuckin' lucky are you! Are you glad?"

"Very."

"You should be. Imagine if you broke your nose, and it was all disfigured and shit. You may not have been as pretty."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Ha! Babe, your fuckable, that's the only compliment that's going to seep from my lips." Katerina pouted her lips and frowned, glaring up at Vaas playfully. "But when I say that," Vaas continued, now dabbing the cloth on her cheek, "it means that you're pretty. If you weren't chica, then I wouldn't have kept you for myself, would I? Thought you were smart enough to notice that."

"I just wanted to hear you say it," she giggled, sticking out her tongue from her lips.

Vaas laughed, shaking his head as he dunked the rag back in the water. As Vaas dabbed the rag on Katerina's skin, she fidgeted and giggled. Vaas exhaled, his hot breath blowing through Katerina's hair, he clicked his tongue and muttered, "You're a fuckin' lightweight."

"What?"

"You're already fuckin' high. Your eyes are all over the place and you're laughing for no fuckin' reason. Lightweight. Don't get used to this shit, those pills aren't cheap. I can get good money off them. Not wasting my money on you."

The wet rag collided off Katerina's skin. "Done, with that." Vaas muttered, tossing the rag back in the water, and reaching for the first aid box.

"What are you doing now?" Katerina asked, roguishly wedging her body into the table and flicking the hair form her face.

Vaas gave no reply, not wanting to bother with her childlike humour. He took out a clean, white cloth from the first aid box along with a small bottle of alcohol. He doused the cloth with the strong smelling alcohol, grinding his teeth as he tipped the bottle. Katerina watched with dread, scrunching her nose from the strong, burning smell of alcohol.

"Sit still." Vaas warned as he patted the cloth against her wounds. Her body lurched when he touched her. Vaas pulled the cloth away and snarled. Katerina hunched her back and beamed innocently, "sorry, it was cold..." she mumbled, "and it kinda' hurt a little bit. Only a bit though."

Vaas sighed, sucking his teeth as he dabbed the soaked cloth at the other wound in her cheek and lip – Katerina couldn't help but jerk when he touched her lip. Finally he pulled it away and slammed the first aid box shut after lobbing the cloth and alcohol back inside. "Done." He barked, chucking the first box beside his feet, "it should only take about four days, five days for you to heal properly."

"I look awful, don't I?" Katerina sighed, twiddling her thumbs and allowing a clump of tangled hair to fall over her face. Vaas just shrugged which wasn't reassuring. A simple "no" would have be fine.

"When was the last time you ate?" Vaas suddenly asked, his eyes locked on the cracks in the table. He swivelled a cigarette in his fingertips – Katerina hadn't even noticed that he had got one out. Katerina shrugged and pursed her lips, sinking her body into the chair – most of her hair now draped over her face.

"So do you not fuckin' want anything to eat then?" Vaas continued, scratching a match against the table while his cigarette rested securely in his lips.

Katerina shot up, her restless breath hitting Vaas' bronzed, coarse skin. "Yes! I'm starving!"

Vaas cocked an eyebrow at her, holding the bright, orange flame beside his lips, not yet letting it hit his cigarette. Katerina slunk back into the chair and squinted her eyes. She bit onto her lip and flicked the hair from her face. "Please," she whispered alluringly, chuckling under her breath, stretching out her neck so that her face nearly collided with his. Vaas only laughed, taking a drag of his cigarette and holding the smoke in his lungs.

Katerina smashed her head against the back of the cushioned chair and sighed, drawing her knees up to her chest. "Why are you smoking? It's bad for you." she asked, picking at the dirt in her nails as she watched him for an answer. The same innocence and ignorance would glide from the mouth of a child – asking why birds have wings and why the grass is green and not purple or red.

"Cus' I fuckin' want to." He sighed, blowing out a gust of grey smoke, aiming the thick mist at his boots. "It blocks out any of the petty annoyances. It also helps to prevent me from breaking a wall or putting a bullet in someone's skull, when I'm in one of them states, which happens a lot."

"Opening up a lot there, weren't you Vaas?"

"Don't enjoy it or get used to it. It won't happen again."

"You're very closed aren't you? Like a book that has an iron lock swathed around the cover."

"Just shut up."

Katrina slunk further into her chair and puffed out a gust of air, blowing a strand of hair out from her eyes. She groaned miserably and whimpered like a spoiled child, "Vaas, I'm hungry."

Vaas chuckled at her childlike tone, and took one last drag of his cigarette before mashing it into his silver ash tray. He slowly rose from the chair, blowing the smoke out form his lungs over his shoulder.

"Move your fuckin' ass then. Unless you want to stay here?"

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**O.o What did you think? Tell me in with a comment/review! I just wanna say that i'm only writing this due to my huge obsession with Vaas, and how I have the biggest crush on him - he's awesome. I'm sure you all agree, yes? (^.^) Thanks for giving it a read! And don't worry, it will be picking up very soon... You're all amazing!**


	17. Playing Games Now?

Vaas watched with amusement as Katerina sluggishly hauled her body up from the chair – with her brunette hair hanging messily over her face like a veil. Vaas chuckled as she slowly dragged her feet across the floorboards, towing one foot in front of the other until she reached Vaas – who stood with his arms crossed, observing her with a grin painted on his face.

"Are you sure you want something?" he teased, arching his back so that his face was in direct view of hers. He laughed, tracing his tongue across his lips as he examined her for an answer. Katerina slowly lifted her head, and pouted before smiling – racing her tongue across her teeth. Vaas lifted his head when she done that, and shook his head, swivelling this body around to face the door – scratching the bridge of his nose and fixing his pants. Katerina exploded into an eruption of childish laughter, coiling her arms around her stomach and squeezing it as her head fell forward – still the laughter echoed from her mouth.

"What the fuck is so funny?"

Katerina continued to laugh – even if Vaas' voice sounded quite irritated – in fact, she seemed to laugh more. Finally she lifted her head, wiping a tear from her eye with the tip of her finger.

"You finished?"

Katerina silently laughed again, but the laughter quickly perished. "Sorry," she giggled, hiccupping and shuddering her head, "I'm okay now. I don't even know what was funny."

Vaas only looked at here, before opening the door and marching out. Katerina quickly followed, her arms tightly folded over her chest, scurrying behind him like a pup following the pack leader. The sun shined brightly – the beautiful, warm golden ray of light shimmering on her skin. The air was warm – a nice warm – and it embraced Katerina with serenity, hugging her like a cosy blanket. She smiled, closing her eyes, lifting her head, and letting the scorching golden sun glimmer on her neck. Her eyes fluttered open and she glared up into the sky. "Wow!" Katerina gasped, gazing up in wonder at the beauty of the sky. In her eyes she saw explosions of purple, sea blue and gold. It was beautiful – like something from a dream. Had the sky always looked like this? Her eyes wandered to the sun and she gasped again. The sun glowed brightly, glistening like a grand crystal, flicking out rays of orange, gold, and even silver. Never in all of her life had she seen something so magnificent.

"Vaas," she whispered, scurrying up to be closer to him as they walked, "Vaas, look at the sky, and the sun. It's so beautiful."

"You shouldn't look directly in the sun." he barked silently, increasing the speed of his pace.

"But it's so pretty…" Katerina sighed, sulking and glaring at the floor like a child.

Vaas chuckled, his back quaking as he marched through the camp. Vaas and Katerina reached a mossy green gazebo, it was quite large and was packed with wooden tables and metal chairs. Possibly where the pirates came to eat. It reminded Katerina of one of them army films she had watched before – where soldiers would retreat under the gazebos in their camps to eat or take shelter from the bad weather.

There were a few men inside. Katerina stiffened once she saw them, and hid behind Vaas – stepping closer to him, shrouding herself beside his back. They were crammed around a table, with plates filled with food and glass bottles of alcohol beside them. Vaas stood there, glaring at them for a moment – his fierce eyes burning into their skulls. They finally took notice and peered up. Vaas looked at them, and whistled, clicking his head to the direction of where he and Katerina had just came. The pirates jumped from their seats, quickly shovelling in the food and swigging back their drinks. One pirate got up too quickly and his chair fell back, scratching against the ground, so that the pirate fell to the floor – landing on his back with a loud thud. Katerina laughed, pressing her fist against her mouth to stop the laughter from bursting into a frenzy. The pirates he was with stiffened, glaring at Vaas apologetically, kicking their comrade with their boots so that he got up quicker. The fallen pirate scowled at giggling Katerina as he got up, stumbling on his feet. They quickly scuttled out, scurrying away like rats running from water, or a wave, and Vaas was the wave – huge, powerful and dangerous.

"Sit," Vaas ordered, walking past Katerina and trudging towards the back. Katerina smiled and slunk to the small table in the corner – where only two chairs surrounded it – and lunged her body into the chair. She sighed and smashed her arms against the table – probing at the wood, fascinated by the cracks and dints engraved in the table. She was disturbed when Vaas dropped a bowl and a metal spoon in front of her. Vaas lobbed his body into the chair opposite her, resting his arm on the table – swivelling a bullet in his fingertips – and drumming it against the wooden surface.

"Yum," Katerina hummed, glaring up at Vaas – who glared at the table – "what is it?"

"Just eat."

Katerina lifted the spoon and dunked it into the food. Was this supposed to be stew? It was runny, and flooded off the spoon like water. The colour was pale and there was hardly any meat or vegetables in it. Katerina could hear her stomach growling as she glared at the food. Quickly she brought the spoon to her mouth and shovelled the food in. The horrid, overpowering taste of salt flooded her mouth and tongue. It tasted awful but she was starving so continued to quickly shovel the food in her mouth. It tasted like sea water – reminding her of the first day she got here. She remembered looking out to the beach, whilst on the boat, and seeing men on there. She remembered how she realised that the men were a threat and how she screamed at the top of her lungs for everyone to get off the boat. Then there was the roaring red blaze that zoomed towards them and lucky for her, she managed to jump into the sea before the racing flame hit the boat. Eight friends followed. She remembered how the salt water flooded her mouth, rushing down her throat and clawing at her tongue. She hated that day. The day were most of her friends were murdered. The day were she became a prisoner. The day were she knew she would be stuck on this dreaded island forever… maybe die here too.

Vaas watched her, locking his eyes onto her, glaring at her like how a lion watches its pride, or perhaps how a tiger watches prey. Katerina peered up, licking her lips, catching any droplets of the liquid food she had just indulged. "Are you not having any?" she asked, pushing the bowl aside.

"No," he snapped, still playing with his bullet, "tastes like shit."

"Yeah…" Katerina chuckled, stretching her arms across the table, which caught Vaas' attention, "wasn't that nice, if I'm honest. Tasted like salt water."

Vaas chuckled, his shoulders quaking, but his expression was still and opaque. "Not really hungry anyway," he sighed, getting up to fetch a bottle. Katerina watched him, resting her head on the table, with her arms swathed around her head. Vaas trudged back to the chair, unscrewing the bottle and tipping it to his lips. Katerina watched his Adams apple bob up and down as he drank the alcohol as if it was water. It was strong too, she could smell it. He brought it away from his lips and shook his head quickly, blinking slowly as he glared at the table, the bottle still in his hands. He brought the bottle to his lip again and knocked it back. Katerina sat up, glaring at him in amazement. How much of that poison was he willing to take?

"Vaas, can I have some water?" Katerina asked, ruffling her hair with her fingers, chuckling as the hair fell messily over her face, "the food made me thirsty – too salty."

Vaas chuckled, hiccupping once as he laughed silently to himself. Katerina stared in confusion, raising an eyebrow when Vaas pushed his bottle towards her. She laughed soundlessly, beaming as she glared at the bottle. "Erm," she mumbled, poking the bottle with her index finger, "thanks, but I asked for water."

"Just drink that." he snapped – his words were slurred slightly. He wasn't drunk was he?

Katerina shrugged and took the bottle in her hand, hovering the glass bottle beside her mouth, watching the droplets of clear alcohol trickle down the side of the cold glass. She lifted the bottle and shook it, "only live once, eh?" she laughed, bringing the bottle to her lips and sipping the liquid. She gaged at first, as it was so strong. Never had she tasted alcohol like this. Vaas laughed at her expression. She took another long swig but eventually shook her head and pushed the bottle back to him, not being able to have anymore.

"Ow!" she snapped, coughing against the back of her hand, "that fucking burns. It burns you throat when you swallow it…"

Vaas chuckled, picking up the bottle and drinking some more. Katerina continued, her voice slightly slurred, "what the… the fuck is that anyway? I… I hardly drank any and..."

"You drank enough."

"Quite nice actually…"

"Sure."

"Vaas?"

"What?"

"Why did you kill him?"

"Who?"

"That man… the one who nearly…"

"He touched my things." He replied sharply, jumping up from his chair, brushing his fingertips through his ebony Mohawk, "never liked the motherfucker anyway."

"But why…"

"What! Did you want me to leave him? Did you fuckin' want that to happen, eh?" He voice was incensed, and his body tensed – with the veins pulsating in his neck.

Katerina stood up, standing in front of him and glaring up to look at him as he shadowed her. "No!" she protested, "why would I? I was glad you… knifed the fucker."

Vaas laughed at that, raising his eyebrow as he chuckled, "really?"

"Yep. He got what he deserved."

"Did he?"

"Most definitely."

"Most definitely?" He was teasing her. Stretching out his words as his voice bounced with jest and amusement.

She grinned playfully, arching her eyebrows over her eyes. She stood on her tip-toes and stretched out her neck, whispering "I hope you're not mocking me."

"Is that a threat?"

"Maybe. I don't like being mocked. You know, two can play at this game."

"Game?"

"Yep."

"Are we playing games now?"

"You tell me."

He laughed, grasping onto her chin, "you're treading on thin ice amada."

"Well you hope I don't drag you with me when I fall in."

"Is this the alcohol and drugs talking? Or you?"

"Oh no. No… this is all me. I guess I've just… relaxed."

He let go of her chin and eyed her, his eyes scanning her. He chuckled to himself. He sighed, running his hand over his face and pointed behind her, "Get that bag." He ordered, pointing towards a small black pack back that had been chucked in the corner. Katerina stared at it and Vaas raised an eyebrow, annoyed that she hadn't moved. "Well go on," he barked, "get it. Fetch!"

"I'm not your pet!" Katerina teased, flicking her hair off her shoulder.

"Yes you fuckin' are. Remember, I own you. So," he smiled, with a fiendish manner and grasped her chin, rolling his tongue, his voice high and melodic – mocking her, he hummed, "fetch that for me please."

He snapped his finger and shoved her towards the bag, pushing her by the shoulder. Katerina chuckled, sticking out her tongue as she lazily plodded to the back-pack, scooping it up and swinging it over her shoulder. "Since you said please," she teased back, pouting her lips and lifting up her head.

Vaas chuckled and turned around, "this way."

Katerina sighed, placing the back-pack through her shoulder and gripping onto the straps. She kicked her feet and rushed after him. He headed to the back of the camp – where the forest began; where the trees and bushes grew wildly. Was this where the camp ended? Where was he taking her?

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**O.o Looks like Katerina finally got something to eat. Please tell me what you thought of this one with a comment/review. Thank you! (^.^)**


	18. Bliss

**Hi, i'm back with another chapter. This one is longer than usual but don't worry i'm sure you will find it interesting. The support i'm getting for this FanFic so far is amazing, so thank you so much for that. You're all amazing! Enjoy~**

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Vaas stopped beside a small wooden gate, resting his palm on the wood as he looked back at Katerina, who glanced around her, shuffling her feet across the ground, shivers going up her spine from trepidation. Why had Vaas brought her here? It was darker back here. The shack in front of them shrouded them in darkness, and the towering trees and jungle plants on the other side of the fence blocked most light. What was he doing? Katerina scanned around her, her fingers tightly coiling around the straps of her back-pack. Vaas exhaled loudly, and patted the fence. Then, with one arm, he hoisted himself up and leaped over the fence so that he stood in the jungle.

"Come here," he ordered, resting her elbows on the fence, waiting for Katerina to scurry towards him.

"Where are we going?" she asked, slowly putting one foot in front of the other, and checking around her as she anxiously treaded closer.

"Just come here amada."

Amada. It was the new nickname he had begun using. Amada. Katerina had no idea what it meant, but for some reason it was more appealing than Chica– a name he had previously used, and hardly ever used now.

Still clutching onto the straps of her bag, she skipped her feet and rushed over to Vaas.

"Can you climb over?" he asked, scanning her with his warm, brown eyes.

"No, I'll climb through."

Vaas chuckled and stepped back, observing as Katerina squeezed her petite body through the gaps in the fence. She jumped up in front of him, flicking the hair from her face. She grinned and sighed, blowing a strand of her hair out of her face. Vaas reached his hand up beside her face and pushed the strand behind her ear. She smiled, _never had his touch felt so warm._

"Vamos amada!" he suddenly called, marching through the bushes and the twisting vines that swathed around high lush trees. Katerina gnawed at her inner cheek and clumsily followed. Tripping over tree roots that had burst from the soil and stumbling over her feet when treading on the uneven ground. Her eyes were glued to the floor, examining the ground before she risked trampling her foot there – she was bare foot after all.

"Katerina, can you go any fucking slower?"

"Erm, I have no shoes you know!" Katerina grumbled, treading carefully and slowly. Trampling on her tip-toes, using the trees to balance her.

"For fuck's sake!" Vaas snapped, turning around and pacing towards her. He stopped a few yards in front of her, leaning against a tree. "You're taking the fuckin' piss." He grunted, surveying her with his arms tightly folded across his torso.

"I don't want to step on a thorn!"

"A thorn?"

"Yes. Or a poisonous vine or plant, something like that."

"Kat. There aren't any poisonous vines or plants."

"Poisonous frog then! What if I get bit by a snake?"

"That's poisonous?"

Katerina stopped and scowled at him, Vaas beamed and chuckled. "Oh, shut up!" Katerina yapped, scrunching her nose and squinting her eyes. Vaas raised his eyebrow and stepped forwards, perching over Katerina, who nearly plummeted to the floor with fright.

"Don't you be telling me what to do. Remember I'm still the fuckin' boss here. You do what I fuckin' say, not the other way round, okay chica?"

"Okay."

For a moment Vaas had scared her. She had forgotten who she was talking to, this was the man that killed her friends and… hurt her. Who's to say he won't do it again?

Katerina glanced back down and stretched out her foot to take another step, but the foot never touched the ground. Suddenly she was thrown into the air, swinging side to side above the ground, gliding through the gaps in the trees as if she was flying. Was she flying? She grinned, she was flying. Soaring like an eagle – well… a very slow eagle that wanted to stay very close to ground. It was then was she realised that she wasn't flying, something entirely different. Vaas had scooped her up with one arm and had thrown her other his shoulder. Her body hung over his shoulder, her legs and knees crashing softly against his chest and stomach, and her head knocking against his back – until she lifted it so that it was beside his neck.

"What the fuck? Vaas what are you doing?" Katerina gasped, gripping tightly onto his shoulders, due to the fear of being dropped suddenly.

"Shh, you were being too fuckin' slow. This is much quicker."

He snickered, the vibrations of his quaking shoulder and chest trembled up Katerina's body – giving her chills. "Besides," he chuckled, tossing her in the air slightly, so that she bobbed up and down like a doll, her body thrashing against his, "don't want you stepping on a poisonous plant now, do I?"

Katerina scowled. She want to punch him – right in the back - or knee him in the chest. Why did he have to keep teasing her like he did? Mocking her, belittling her as if she was a child. The insane part was that she actually found it quite amusing herself. It was a dramatic change from the threats and snaps he was normally projecting. This was normal behaviour. Vaas was being normal. Was that possible?

"Where are we going? Why have we gone out the camp?"

"You'll see in a minute. Don't be so fuckin' impatient."

After more walking, they at last reached their destination. Vaas stopped, and dropped Katerina, allowing her to clumsily slide off his shoulder. She was expecting a rush of pain for when she hit the floor but instead she landed on something soft. A soft, gentle bed of lush green grass. It was as soft and as snug as a carpet. It didn't even feel like grass. Where was she?

She took in the smell first. It was gorgeous. The fresh, mint scent of rural grass flew gracefully into her nose, and the sweet aroma of possible flowers swamped her and made her slip a moan of pleasure. She opened her eyes and was greeted with the glistening golden ray of light from the burning sun that was so bright and serene that she could almost smell the golden beams. She was in an open area, and the trees surrounded it like gates, or a cage. Though, in no way did she feel trapped here. It was open. It was soothing and serene. Opposite her was a lake, no… a pool? Blue water flowed into the small jungle pool from the trivial scenic waterfall beside it, and it glistened in the sunlight like white glitter. It was beautiful. When she closed her eyes she could hear the tranquil sound of ripples flowing in the water. It reminded her of her favourite restaurant back home. She had been there a couple of times with family, friends or even significant others. The food there was always delicious and cooked to perfection but the interior design there was magnificent – her favourite object being the stunning water fountain that was planted in the centre of the restaurant. She hadn't thought of home until now? Why? Shouldn't it have been toying on her mind constantly? It wasn't. Was that so wrong?

"Wow, this is beautiful," Katerina whispered, looking up to Vaas, curling the grass in her fingers. "Vaas, why did you bring me here?"

Vaas plummeted to the ground, collapsing to the floor, dragging his hand down his face in exhaustion. Sitting up, he pointed to the pool and grunted, "Thought that you would want to wash up, especially after almost bleeding to death before."

Katerina scowled at him – he was mocking her again. Though this time she shook it off and smiled, inhaling the serene, pleasant perfume that soared through the air.

Vaas collapsed onto his back, and pinched the bridge of his nose, "you'll find the shit you need in the bag."

Katerina looked at him, then to the pool. She smiled and hauled the bag off her back. She opened it quickly and beamed. Inside was a clean towel, – it was actually clean – tooth paste and a tooth brush, a black comb, and a bar of soap. She took out the tooth brush and glimpsed at Vaas. "Erm Vaas?" she murmured "is…"

"No, the toothbrush hasn't been used." He snapped, silencing her "Just get in the pool Kat."

Katerina sighed, and snatched the toiletries and the towel – that was already rolled – and scurried to the pool – placing the things beside it. She glanced at Vaas before unbuttoning her shorts and sliding them off her body. She moved quickly, not wanting Vaas to suddenly sit up and stare at her with nothing on.

She kicked off her lace underwear and stepped gracefully into the pool – after unwrapping the fabric from around her feet. She moaned once the water embraced her. To her surprise it was warm, and reminded her of a hot, serene bath. She wished she had a book to read, or some fragrance to dissolve in the water. She swam in the water a few times before snatching the soap. It felt angelic. She didn't realise how much she yearned to wash her hair and body. At last she could wash the salt and dirt off her body and out of her ragged hair.

She swam towards the edge and pressed her chest against the rock wall, resting her elbows and arms outside of the pool. Vaas still lied on his back. She watched his chest rise and fall. Was he asleep? She didn't want to find out, so she left him, reaching for the toothbrush and toothpaste. She had almost forgot the taste of mint. Never in all her life had she felt so grateful and blessed. Her hair was tangled like trees vines, and it was a mission to get the knots out with the comb. After that she rested her head against the rocky wall, and let the warm water surround her, massaging her muscles and making her eyes fall heavy.

When Katerina opened her eyes, she smiled but then her golden orbs widened, as if she had seen a ghost. She screamed, wrapping her arms around her chest and drawing her knees up to try and hide her womanhood. Her body swivelled around in the water, and she quickly pressed her body against the wall. "Vaas what the fuck!" she shrieked, trying to conceal her body with her arms, legs and the wall. She could feel her face glowing red from embarrassment and ire.

Vaas crouched beside the pool opposite her, tilting his head and growling with desire. His eyes were fierce, and were growing with hunger. He tutted, and hummed "amada, why conceal yourself?"

"Can I not bathe without being watched?" she shrieked, her voice crackled as she continued "please! Fucking hell!"

"You weren't bathing."

"Vaas."

He laughed, standing up, coiling his fingers around his top and hauling it from his body. Katerina's eyes widened as he hurled his top onto the floor. His fingers began unbuttoning his pants.

"What are you doing?" Katerina shrieked, ramming her body against the rocky wall.

"I'm getting in the pool."

Katerina looked away, biting at her bottom lip. The ripples of waters brushing against her skin sent shivers up her spine. She heard him sigh loudly and looked to see him on the other side, opposite her, relaxing in the water with his head resting on the wall.

"Vaas."

"Yes."

"Am I going to get out, or are you?"

Vaas chuckled, "amada, don't fuckin' piss me off."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"You're a fucking psycho Vaas!"

"Kat!"

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Kat! I will fuckin' drown you if you continue."

"Fuck off Vaas!"

His head snapped up, his eyes burning with rage. Quickly he rushed over to her; Katerina stiffened and gnawed anxiously at her inner cheek.

"You really want to fuckin' piss me off don't you!" he voice was loud and incensed. Was he really going to drown her?

"Vaas." She said calmly.

"What!" he roared, his face nearly touching hers.

Katerina whipped her head around and grasped his jaw with her palm. She didn't know why it happened, but suddenly she stretched out her neck and collided her lips with his. She kissed him. Vaas stood in shock for a second but quickly turned the kiss into something more, fisting a clump of her hair and tugging her towards him, so that their bodies brushed against each other. His tongue forced its way into her mouth, but she welcome it – letting her and Vaas' tongue dance in her mouth, indulging the sweet arousing taste of him.

Katerina brought up her hand and grasped the back of his neck, running her fingers up to his Mohawk and brushing her fingertips through his hair as they continued to vigorously kiss each other. Feeling daring she grasped onto his hair strands and tugged at them, harmonising with the rhythm of their kisses. To her pleasure, a small grunt escaped his lips, in which he became more forceful and rough with his actions. His lips left hers and instead trailed down her jawline and neck, his tongue brushing against her skin as he moved his head further down, stopping at her collarbone. She couldn't help but slip a moan. Vaas already had her gasping for breath, her body trembling and her heart racing – ready to burst from her chest. Vaas chuckled between his erotic coarse kissing, alternating between rough, sensual kisses and gentle nipping across her neck and chest – leaving tender love marks on her body. _What the fuck am I doing?_ Katerina thought to herself as the man she once labelled as a monster, vigorously kissed her. _What the fuck am I doing? Kat what are you doing? What drove me to do this? Fuck!_

Katerina moaned in pleasure as Vaas grabbed hungrily at her body, playing with her breast with one hand and squeezing her ass with the other – lifting her through the water, and sending an impulse of shivers to travel up her spine. His head was back at her neck, licking and nipping at her ear lobe, with his hands brushing up her back and across her waist. Katerina kissed his shoulder, clawing at his back and stroking her leg up his. She could feel the vibrations in his chest and hear the low growl rumble in his throat as she caressed his skin. She met his eyes with hers for a moment, just before his head darted to her breast, where he licked and sucked at her nipple, kissing her viciously but sensually around her chest. The fervour of his kissing matched the insane ravenous hunger and desire in his eyes. She almost laughed as Vaas continued to kiss her, but the only sounds that escaped her lips were moans and whimpers of desire. He was toying with her. Fuck! She knew it too.

Her leg brushed up to his thigh, and her breath hit his neck. She smiled at the low growls that echoed from his lips, and he even smashed her body against the wall in retaliation. She grinned again, biting on her lip, brushing her leg up his thigh again and trailing her fingertips down his chest. He growled, grabbing her thighs and smashing her against the rocky wall of the pool – though not hard enough to hurt her. She pecked his jawline and trailed her hands down further. Her grunted, swallowing his groans. She now toyed with him. Letting slip another grunt he quickly seized her wrists and pinned them above her head. "Fuck you," he groaned, whispering in her ear, sending shivers through her body as he abruptly grasped her legs and hauled himself inside of her in one deep thrust that made a whimper of sweet pain glide from her lips. _Fuck!_ She thought as she wrapped her legs around his waist, her body yearning for more. _Fuck this isn't right! Why the fuck am I doing this? Fuck! It feels so good! He feels so good! Fuck! _

Katerina forced her lips onto his, nibbling, and tugging at his bottom lip as she rocked her body into him. Vaas chuckled into her mouth, placing his hand on her back, pulling himself out and thrusting back in, sending a wave of pure bliss to tremor through Katerina's body. Her hand grasped harshly at his neck, with her leg playfully coiling around his body as she rocked her body rhythmically with him, enhancing the pleasure that flowed through their bodies.

Water droplets trickled down the skin of their steaming bodies, and dribbled down their faces from their damp hair. Vaas broke their kiss, resting his forehead on Katerina's forehead as he increased his pace and pressure of each thrust. Katerina rocked her body also, her forehead rubbing against his as she rocked her body up and down, clawing at his back and shoulders. Each thrust he made triggered a grunt from him and a gasp from her, and more and more of Katerina's body screamed as he went on. Vaas knew he had her as she clutched onto his shoulders, arching her back, gasping breathlessly into his ear, and moaning into the air. The pinpoint of pleasure expanded and exploded in her body, in which she howled with pleasure, raking her fingertips through his hair – with water droplets sprinkling in the air.

This only turned him on more; increasing his hunger, in which he kept going, furiously rocking her body rhythmically, with his lips buried into her neck. It didn't take long for his growls to grow in his chest, rumbling ferociously in his throat as he continued to fervently rock into her - feeding his insane hunger. His hand raked down her back and his mouth opened with a slight grunt and gasp. She continued to tenderly peck at his neck and jaw as he gave one final thrust, with his back arching.

He stayed for a little while, both Vaas and Katerina gasping and panting for breath – grateful of the water that slightly cooled their steaming bodies – until he pulled out of her, sending the final shivers up her body. Straight away he hauled himself of out of the pool, grasping the towel and wrapping it around his waist before collapsing to the floor. Katerina was thankful that the water was shallow, or she may have drowned. She looked over to him, watching his chest rise and fall, as she raked her fingertips through her hair. What the fuck had she just done?

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**O.o What did you think of this one? Please, tell me in the comments - I really want to know what you thought of this chapter. Keep the reviews, views, follows, and favs coming. Love you all, you're all awesome! ~ but you already know that, don' t you? Keep reading! (^.^) Thank you! x**


	19. If it's Okay

**Okay, first I want to thank you guys. I have had just under 3,000 views in one month and to me that is amazing! I mean, the month hasn't even ended yet! WOW! I'm amazed. Thank you so so so much! You have no idea how much this means to me. When I saw that kind of number, I literally squealed, while bouncing up and down on my bed, so thank you so much for that! ****  
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**You're all great! And I love reading your reviews as well, so keep them coming! (^.^) Thank you! And thank you to everyone who as gave this story a follow and favorite. It's amazing to see, thank you! x**

**Okay, I'll stop babbling now, and let you read. Enjoy!**

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_It's wrong. _Katerina thought as she gnawed at her inner cheek, letting the water surround her body._ Wrong that I feel this satisfied, wrong that I feel this blissful. It is insane that I feel the way I do – locked away in another world. I was certain that I had seen stars glistening in the water before, as my mind nearly exploded from the intense amount of roaring fiery hot pleasure that flowed through my body. Why the fuck did I do that? What the fuck made me do that? Why did I suddenly decide to grab his jaw and ram my lips into his? I had just screwed the person that kidnapped me! The man that killed my friends! The erotic, prevailing, perilous psychopath! I fucked him! Fuck! Why did I do that? Kat, what was you thinking? Why did I do that? The drugs, maybe I could blame the oxy – forty milligrams was enough to make you do some weird shit, right? Or the alcohol – people do a lot of crazy shit when their drunk, so it had to be that. Of course it was that. Why else would I have done that?_

The water's temperature had risen and steam had begun to evaporate from the surface. The water felt very similar to a boiling hot bath and embraced Katerina making her skin drip with sweat. She wiped the sweat from her brown and brushed the wet hair from her face. _Defiant bastard!_ Katerina thought, as she went to reach for the towel – that wasn't there._ Does really expect me to saunter out of here, dripping with water with no towel? _

Gripping onto the edge of the pool Katerina looked out towards her capturer. She quarried her fingernails into the rough rocks embedded in the hard ground and hollered to the pirate the lay in the grass. "Vaas?"

Vaas lay in a bed of lush grass with his robust arms above his head. His eyes were closed. Was he sleeping? "Yes." He finally replied in a jovial melodic manner.

"Can I have the towel?"

"The towel?"

"Yes. Please, can you hand it to me?"

"Come and get it." He teased with a playful sneer.

Katerina crinkled her nosed and frowned like a child. No! No way was she getting out of here until he had handed her the towel. She sighed and grinded her teeth with irritation. Vaas began to chuckle, as if he sensed her annoyance. "I think," Katerina goaded as she rolled her eyes, her voice shaking with aggravation, "that you should just bring it to me."

"And I think you should get off your ass and come and get it amada."

"Vaas."

"Kat."

"Give me the towel."

"Sorry…" Vaas chuckled, stretching his arms and exhaling loudly, raking his fingertips through his damp hair, "I'm afraid I'm occupied amada."

"Vaas!"

"Shhh. You're disturbing the silence. Can you here the waves from the beach?"

"Vaas."

"If you want it so badly, come and get it amada." He teased, rolling his tongue and stretching out his words.

Katerina scowled, glaring into the water. As she studied the water ripples she could see something. Herself - her reflection. She grimaced at the sight, gasping and lifting her hand to touch her face. Her cheek was a purple colour and the bridge of her nose was purple too, and she had an unsightly red mark on her forehead. Her lip looked chillingly painful. Why couldn't she feel the pain? Oh right… the oxy. She had forgot about that.

"You know," Vaas grunted, his head now resting on his arms that were stationed above his head, "if you stay in the water for too long you will shrivel up."

"I'm not getting out."

"Well," he sat up now, leaning on his elbow as he glanced at her, running his hand down his face, "you can't stay there forever amada. You have to come out."

"Give me the towel then!"

Vaas chuckled, running his hand across the back of his neck, snapping off the sweat that clung to his skin. "You're so stubborn."

Katerina beamed, pressing her body up against the wall, "I know," she yapped, racing her tongue across her teeth. "Give me the towel."

Vaas snickered, his voice bouncing up and down as the laughter echoed from his lips. "I can be stubborn too you know." He tittered, "come and get it." He laughed again, the laughter was almost chaotic. Perhaps Katerina had become used to it by now, as it did nothing to her. "Looks like were playing games again amada."

"Didn't take you for the playful type."

"You don't know me very well then."

"Dido."

"Dido? Ha!"

"Well, you don't know me very well either amigo."

"Amgio?" His chest quaked from his discreet laughter.

"Towel. Please."

"We can do this all day you know, and I'm sure you're getting cold. Come and get it."

She wasn't cold yet but the psychopath had a point – they could banter like this all day, and it was unlikely that Vaas was ever going to give up. Katerina didn't want to either, but she couldn't keep at this all day.

She sighed. Vaas smiled from her gesture of surrender. "Fine," she mumbled, frowning and studying the water, "but… can you look away?"

Vaas laughed, proud of his victory and amused of her defeat. "Why?" he asked, rolling his tongue. His voice bounced with hilarity. Katerina scowled and mused to herself _could he be any more annoying? He didn't have to rub it in my face. Persistent, devious bastard._

"Huh? Asked you a question amada…" Vaas continued – Katerina had forgot he asked her anything. "I said, why? You embarrassed, eh?"

"I…I just… it's just that… I don't… Vaas…"

"Okay, okay!" he chuckled, holding up his hands in surrender, "okay, I'll look away, okay?"

Vaas got up, his back quaking from his chuckles. He dropped the towel beside his feet and sauntered over to his clothes – keeping his eyes away from Katerina's view. Katerina couldn't help but quickly and discreetly snap a peek at his body. _Fuck!_ She thought, as she swiftly scrambled out of the pool, rushing towards the towel, _fuck that body! _ _Fuckin' hell why does he have to look so fuckin' erotic?_ _He even has muscles in his back and his… no! Katerina stop and shut up! Towel. Focus on the towel. Only the towel._

Vaas glanced over to her as he slipped on his jeans. His tongue skimmed his lips as her discreetly eyed her luscious bare body. He shook his head and turned around, adjusting himself in his pants before zipping up his fly.

Katerina wrapped the towel around her body. Her hair flowed down her back like a curtain, and dripped onto the floor. She glanced over her shoulder to see what Vaas was doing. He crouched and fastened his shoes. Katerina twisted her foot into the ground as she watched – she jumped once he peered up. She heard the thud of his boots as he ambled towards her and she shivered to the gentle touch of his hand on her neck, and trembled when his finger trailed through her hair.

"You need a haircut." He snorted, curling her wet hair in his fingers as he stood behind her.

"I like it long!"

Vaas chuckled, brushing his fingertips down her arm. Katerina gnawed at her inner cheek as his hand trailed down her skin that trickled with water. "Get dry," Vaas ordered, his voice a bit more stern which awoke Katerina from her trance. She suddenly felt the chill of the breeze, and shuddered – Goosebumps emerging on her bare skin. "I have brought clothes for you, they fell out the towel. They're beside the pool."

"Oh…I'm going to wash my other clothes. Is that okay?"

"Fine. You can wear what I brought you for now."

"Okay. Thanks."

Katerina turned around but Vaas was already away from her, pacing up and down with a cigar in his lips – bringing a blaze to his mouth to light his cigar. Katerina quickly dried herself off and skipped over to the clothes Vaas had brought her. He had brought her a pair of green, cargo pants – hopefully they wouldn't be too big, and she was thankful that they looked clean – and a grey vest top – which was a women's vest top, but again clean. Where did he get that? She didn't want to know.

She slipped on her new clothes – the pants were a small size so they fitted her fine and she was appreciative of that – and bent down to the water and began washing her clothes. She scrubbed the clothes together in the water – adding soap – and every often she would peer up to see what Vaas was doing. Currently he lay in the sun, blowing on his cigar, lying on his back and looking up to the sky.

"Done!" Katerina exclaimed with jest, standing beside Vaas with her arms folded, "Stuff is in the bag, so I'm ready to go… if you're waiting. Have places to go?"

"Whatever. Sure."

"Wait, you don't have places to go?"

"Am I moving now?"

"Well, could I ask a favor then?"

"Depends... what?"

"I was just wondering…" Her voice fell quiet as she tunnelled her nails into her arm, scratching anxiously at her skin, "could you… if it's okay… when you can…"

"Just spit it out Kat."

"Take me to the beach?"

She hadn't been to the beach since the day she arrived here, and that wasn't a pleasant day. Her imagery of the beach will be forever tainted unless she saw the true beauty of it. She could only ask, right? It was unlikely that she would ever be able to go on her own. She would most likely never leave the confined embrace of these barbaric pirates - of Vaas.

"The beach?"

Katerina nodded, barring her lip together as she waited, intently listening out for an answer.

"Why do you want to go there?"

"If it's to much trouble it's fine, we can leave it. I'm sure your busy and have things that need..."

"Why do you want to go?"

"I just thought it would be nice. Seeing the blue ocean, and the golden sand. Listening to the waves crash gently against the shore. The gulls chirping in the distance as they scavenge for food."

"If you weren't high, I bet you wouldn't be asking me."

"Look, I can tell you don't want to go, which is fine. I'll just..."

"Sure."

"What?"

"Sure, we can go. I have time to kill."

"Really?" Katerina almost screamed with excitement and Vaas cocked an eyebrow at her. She shuffled gleefully on her feet, she didn't expect him to say yes. The beach! She could almost smell the ocean and hear the crashing of the blue waves.

Vaas chuckled, jumping to his feet and flicking the burnt cigar from his fingertips. "You need to fix your wounds first," Vaas sighed, pointing to Katerina's cut feet.

"I… I don't have anything."

"Use the towel."

Vaas gave a playful grin as he dashed over to the towel and snatched it from the floor with one hand. With his knife – that he had in a sheath attached to his pants – he cut several thin pieces of the towel and strolled over to Katerina, clutching onto the fabric in his left hand.

"Sit." He ordered, already crouching down in front of her. She politely obeyed, and fell awkwardly to the floor, lifting her feet slightly off the ground. Vaas seized her foot, rubbing the soles of her feet gently with his thumb. Katerina couldn't help but slip a small smile as he swathed the fabric around her foot, concealing her wounds. "They look better," he exclaimed as he dropped her other foot, "and your face should heal pretty quickly. You'll be bran' spanking new in no time!"

He gave another grin and stood up, hauling Katerina up as he rose. Katerina stumbled over her feet, and knocked into his chest. With a chuckle echoing from his lips, Vaas wrapped his arm securely around her waist and tugged her forward so that they ventured further into the jungle.

It only took a few minutes for Vaas and Katerina to reach the beach. It was a small beach and again was secluded – hidden by the jungle that stood behind it. Vaas gave Katerina a nudge, and pushed her lightly on her back so that she hobbled forwards onto the sand. She smiled, and spread her toes through the soft warm sand that flowed over her toes like water. The rivers of warm yellow sand seemed to be endless – even if the beach itself was quite small. Warm golden light dappled across the calm ocean and made it shimmer. Never had she seen the sea so blue. It was beautiful. The murmur of trills in the blue ocean water made Katerina smile and for the first time she felt at peace, as if a part of her had floated out of her body and hovered in the air on that beach, gliding through the humid summer air like a majestic eagle. This is was tranquility felt like.

A group of gulls squawked nearby, flicking broken shells and clumps of sand in the air as they flapped their long wings in the air, whilst screaming at one another - just as she imagined. The serene echo of water waves softy crashing against the rocks and brushing against the sand made Katerina beam with glee. She looked ahead, watching as the sea lapped tenderly at the sand, embracing the sand like a warm, serene blanket that covers you in bed.

Her legs dragged Katerina away, as she hypnotically treaded through the sand, venturing further into the beach. She stopped in the centre (and by this time Vaas had caught up with her, and stood beside her with his hands buried in his pockets) where golden beams shined and flecked the sand. She fell to her knees, then sat. Moaning silently as her body burrowed into the bed of sand.

Vaas lay beside her, shutting his eyes as he basked in the sun. Katerina, fell to her stomach, kicking her legs in the air in delight, as she played with a sea shell that was buried in the sand – tracing her thumb across the spiralling pattern engraved in it. She sighed, chucking the sea shell behind her and rested her head on Vaas' chest, feeling it rise and fall – with her curling hair folding over her face like a drapery.

"Come in the sea with me!" Katerina suddenly shrieked excitedly, flicking the hair from her face as she sat up to look at him.

"No."

"Aww," Katerina whined, like a child as she kneeled, brushing the sand from her stomach "you're no fun. Suit yourself, I'm going."

Katerina went to stand but Vaas snatched her wrist and hauled her back down, his eyes now open. Katerina gasped and collapsed onto his chest, her hair falling beside his face like an archway of blinds. "Stay here." His tone of voice was supposed to be cold and stern – like a vicious warning – but instead glided from his lips like a poem, in which Katerina smiled and whispered, "Okay," leaning her head to his to tenderly kiss him on the lips. Vaas reached up his hand and grasped the back of her head, cupping her skull with his palm as he slowly flipped her around so that he laid on top of her. Katerina pulled away, pursing her lips and scowling as she grumbled, "I'm going to get sand in my hair!"

"I don't give a fuck!"

He chuckled and brushed his lips against hers, running his hands down her waist and legs as she clutched onto his neck, racing her tongue across his tongue and teeth. His hand ran back up her body, his fingertips brushing under her top and up to her breast, where he squeezed it as he flecked her with tender kissed across her lips, jaw and neck.

A rustle in the nearby bushes made the birds fly up into the sky quickly. Katerina paid no attention, pecking at Vaas' neck. Vaas broke their kiss and peered up. He quickly clutched onto his gun jumped up, tugging Katerina with him and chucking her behind him, so that his body shielded her. He clicked back his gun and held it against his head as he inspected the bushes and trees in the jungle. Katerina gulped and trembled with uncertainty, clutching tightly onto Vaas' arm and hiding behind his back.

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**O.o *suspense music plays here* What do you think of this chapter? Leave a comment and tell me! You're all awesome and make writing this even more fun and rewarding for me, thanks! Keep reading! Love you all! (^.^)**


	20. Orders

**Hey, I'm back! First, I'll just say sorry that I've been so inactivate for the past few weeks, but I have been away, and only came back a couple of days ago. I hope you all don't mind, and due to my absence I give you all an extra long chapter to enjoy! And, I will also add, that I am so happy that the numbers for views, follows and favourites etc keep on rising - even whilst I was away. That is amazing! So thank you! Anyway, enough of me blabbing on, i'll let you just get to the chapter. Enjoy! ~**

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Both eyes were locked ahead of them, glued to the jungle of green behind the sand. Vaas clicked his tongue and took one stride through the warm sand – with Katerina slowly trailing behind him, still clutching onto his arm. Katerina looked up at Vaas – her eyes swelling with dread – and then back to the jungle.

The air was tense and still. The clammy jungle air tightened its grasp on Katerina, squeezing her tight so that the air she breathed made her choke, making it a desperate struggle to take in breath. It was quiet. Katerina could no longer detect the tranquil echo of the ocean waves, or the squawking gulls soaring in the humid air, or the chirping of insects hidden in the brush, or the whispers of the gentle breeze that would brush through her hair. She could only hear her own flustered breath, and the beating of her frenzied heart. Vaas, on the other hand, remained so still, frozen like stone. Like a predator hunting prey – a tiger, stalking its enemy through the towering grass; only stepping lightly on his paws and holding in his breath. But before Katerina could take in one more deep breath to calm herself, the silence was suddenly disturbed by an explosion of brash gun shots and ear-splitting yells of fury.

It happened so suddenly and so quick. Katerina couldn't even fully establish what was happening – it was all a blur. Bullets zoomed from the jungle, towards both Katerina and Vaas, travelling faster than light through the dense air. Gritty yellow sand splashed up from the ground, after the harsh impact of a deadly racing bullet, scratching both Katerina's and Vaas' skin as it rapidly blew through the air. Vaas let out a roar, tossing Katerina to the floor so that she fell in the sand, taking a disgusting mouthful of the gritty golden grains as her head skimmed the soft ground. Katerina coughed and chocked, spitting out the yellow grains attached to her tongue, making her gag. She listened as Vaas continued to roar, and flinched to the thunderous explosion of Vaas firing his gun towards the jungle.

With her ears ringing and her head pounding, Vaas snatched Katerina's arm and roughly lugged her to her feet. Katerina glared at the sand, and studied the grains. A small red pool began to flow through the golden soil, and it flowed towards her toes. But, she had no time to analyse the red river in the sand, as Vaas soon lobbed her to the other side of the beach, tossing her dazed body in the jungle – away from the lethal rocketing bullets that penetrated the earth and shattered tree trunks.

Vaas and Katerina quickly retreated to the jungle, where they hid their bodies behind towering ancient trees – taking cover from the several bullets that fired their way. Katerina had collapsed onto the floor, beside Vaas' boots, and sat in the lush grass, bewildered and frightened as she frantically scanned around her. Her eyes finally wandered to Vaas, who quickly reloaded his gun, resting his back against the tall withered jungle tree, grinding his teeth together with a dreaded scowl drilled into his face. He was standing on his feet awkwardly, and when Katerina's shimmering eyes trailed to his boots she noticed that same red river she had seen just a second ago. Her lip trembled, and she looked up and saw that the blood was pouring from Vaas' hand like a shower of red water, and that his hand was clutching tightly onto his leg, above his knee, and that he was shaking. He was hurt! Vaas, the pirate lord, the outlandish fearsome lunatic had been shot at, and they actually got him!

"Vaas your hurt!" Katerina suddenly cried out, with her voice high and crackled from her anxiousness and concern. It was probably a stupid thing to blurt out. He already knew that he had been shot.

"I fuckin' know!" he viciously screamed back at her, his face burning red from his anger. His temper startled her, and the expression that was drilled into his face made her loose breath. He was ready to explode. The veins in his neck looked ready to burst out from his skin. Never had she seen him this livid. She felt the familiar burn of tears lancing at her eyes. Why did he have to yell at her? She quickly swallowed her whimpers and snapped her head away, gnawing down on her trembling lip. Yes, she knew that Vaas wasn't Prince Charming, but she thought that he was beginning to show a different side around her, a side that was gentle and caring. She shook her head, blinking quickly to eradicate the tears. Perhaps she had just picked the wrong moment to speak.

More men suddenly burst out from the trees, on Vaas and Katerina's side of the beach, firing guns, bawling out nonsense and rushing towards rocks and trees to take cover. Katerina found herself closer to Vaas' leg, so close that she was nearly touching him. Vaas paid no attention to these men, and instead spun his body around and fired his gun at the other side of the beach. Why? Weren't these men a threat? They had guns. Did that not mean that they could be harmful?

Katerina blinked several times as she studied the men. What was happening? On one side was Vaas and her, and all these other angered men dressed in red. On the other side were more men, dressed in more casual clothing but painted with several tribal tattoos on their arms, chest or even face in some cases. Then she realised that the men on her side of the beach were not just any men – they were Vaas' men. Why were they fighting? Who was going to win? Was she going to die here? What was going to happen to her?

Katerina jolted her body into the air, and sat frozen in shock. She peered up at Vaas, who was screaming like a lunatic, reloading his gun and clutching onto it with both hands, stepping forwards with his gun raised. Katerina flinched every time the gun bolted in his hand whenever he pulled the trigger, and winced every time a man fell to the ground, with blood oozing from his body and onto the earth. She felt like a child – vulnerable, frightened and hopeless. To make it worse, Vaas was getting further and further away from her, and without Vaas she had nothing. Without his protection, or him near, she was a sitting duck, vulnerable to anyone and anything.

"Motherfucking chicken-shit, senseless fucks!" Vaas roared as he darted to the beach, still firing his gun as he hungrily ran towards the men that fired at him, with feral anger growing in his stony eyes. His men followed, firing their rifles and pistols as they trailed their leader, howling like wild wolves as they rushed to the other side. Katerina quickly picked herself up, scrambling to her feet as she quickly followed, screaming out her battle cry as she scooped up a pistol that had been discarded on the floor. Her heart pounded against her chest as if it was going to burst out from her rib-cage. She was frightened, this was war – with the piercing explosions of shrill gun shots, and the trembling thunder of men hollowing in fury, and the chilling clatter of men screaming in pain and grunting out their last breathes. She was petrified! But she had to help! She had to do something!

However, before Katerina could even reach the beach her body stopped, and her feet lifted from the ground with her gun dropping to the floor.

"Get off of me!" she screamed as she felt a set of arms tangle around her chest and squeeze her tight – lifting her off of the ground. "Put me down!" she screeched, bashing her fists onto the arms of the man that seized her and kicking her legs through the air like a spoilt child. Her voice was shrouded by the eruptions of weapons – she could not be heard.

"No! No!" she screamed, as she was dragged deeper into the jungle, "No! Get off of me! Help! Vaas!"

At last the man let go, but she could not run as he quickly grabbed her again, seizing her by the arms and spinning her around. He shook her by the shoulders, as he barked, "Look las, I need to get ya out of here, okay? This ain't a place for a girl like yourself! You will die! Ya have to come with me!" The man was frantic, and he spoke with a soft Irish accent. Did this man originally come from Britain?

"Fuck that! You're lying! Let me go!" she squealed as she continued to wriggle in his grasp.

"I'm not ya enemy! I've been givin' orders! I have to get ya out!"

"Orders?"

The man shook his head and grasped her by the wrist, towing her behind him as he scurried through the jungle – keeping his gun beside his head. Katerina pulled back, tunnelling her feet into the ground as she pried at his fingertips that were coiled around her wrist.

"Wait! Wait!" she screeched, trying to stop the man that towed her away.

"Get to cover!" he suddenly roared, as he tossed her to the floor, dashing behind a tree and firing his gun at a man who aimed bullets at them a few feet away. This was no game. It was real. This was really happening. Katerina quarried her fingernails into the ground and scrambled away, hiding behind a tree beside the man that had just towed her away from Vaas, who was still firing his gun. She looked up at him. He was much smaller than Vaas was, and he looked quite young. She knew that he worked for Vaas, as he wore the similar "pirate" uniform that all of his men wore. He had a pale green bandana coiled around his head and above it, his damp, dark hair curled messily in tight rings, looking very similar to toilet brush – Katrina chuckled silently to herself at that. His face was soft, and serene, and his emerald eyes sparkled in the light.

"What's happening?" Katerina yelled, jolting at the pieces of bark that flew up into the air from the impact of a zooming bullet. The gunshot ceased, and the pirate peeked behind his tree. He released a sigh of relief and his shoulders dropped – appears he had won this fight.

He looked back at Katerina and cocked an eyebrow, "ya don't know?"

Katerina shook her head innocently as she brushed off the splinters of tree bark from her arms. They were interrupted by a clatter of weapons, and their heads snapped behind them, were the echoes of gunshots became louder. "Quick, we have to go!" the pirate snapped, tugging Katerina to her feet and running further into the jungle, with his fingers coiled around Katerina's wrist. Katerina had no choice. She had to go with him.

Eventually they reached an old car that had been planted at the side of the sandy road beside the jungle. The pirate leapt in and began turning the key to start the engine. Katerina scrambled into the car and sat silently in the front seat. "Who are you?" she whispered, frantically scanning behind her and clutching onto the torn, leather seat she was curled up on.

The car rumbled and shook as the engine growled. "Listen to that baby purr," the pirate laughed with a smile, patting and softly stroking the car with his palm. His fingers coiled around the rubber wheel. He groaned and looked across to Katerina, who glared at him recklessly. "Look," he sighed – each word that drifted from his lips was a serene soft whisper. A tone Katerina hadn't heard in a while. His bright eyes scanned away from Katerina's face, and he continued "it don't matter who I am, okay? All ya need to know, is that I'm friend, I'm here to get ya to safety and that I am only followin' orders."

"Who gave the orders?"

"Who do ya think gave the orders?"

"Vaas?"

"Yeah….kinda'."

"Kinda?"

The pirate ignored her and quickly drove up the road. Yellow dust flew up into the air beside the wheels as the car raced down the track. "I'm not supposed to talk to ya!" the pirate snapped, though even words that were supposed to be harsh still echoed from his lips with a soft, calming nature.

"Why not?"

"Well because you're… hold on, no! I'm sorry lass but I can't speak to ya!"

"What? Are you saying that the only person I can speak to is Vaas!" She was becoming irritable now. She was tired of being treated differently because of Vaas' warning, and he only said it because she was a women, because she was _his_. This whole scenario would be completely different if she was a man. "It's not fair!"

The pirate chuckled as he drove down the road. She sounded like a child, with her odd high-pitched whiny tone of voice, and the face she pulled definitely was childish – she even folded her arms and scrunched up her nose.

"Wait, you've been drinkin' haven't ya! If not drink, then drugs. I'm takin' a guess due to your childlike behaviour, and the way ya act." the pirate accused, now glancing over to the annoyed girl that sat in the car next to him.

"No I haven't!" Katerina protested, her voice crackled from how high her voice was going. It was easy to detect that she was lying. The same tone would erupt from the mouth of a small child, lying about not stealing the last cookie in the cookie jar. It was quite amusing for the pirate, who only chuckled and raised his eyebrow at her.

"I haven't!" she squealed again, scrunching up her nose even tighter and jolting in her seat. "Besides, I thought you didn't want to talk to me!"

"No, I said I can't talk to ya."

"You gonna' tell me why?"

"I think ya know why lass."

"Well, can you just tell me where we're going then? I want to know that you're not kidnapping me."

The pirate laughed under his breath, and turned around the corner. Katerina nearly slid off her seat as the car swivelled around the bend. "Orders were, to take ya to a new camp, main camp… I think."

"Why?"

"Thought ya knew…. Other one got burned down. Raykat done it, bastards, they just love to make everything harder for us. All me stuff was in there, now poof, it's all gone."

"Rakyat? Who are they?"

"Wow, ya don't get told nothin'. They're a sort of tribe, and they've lived on the island for uncounted years. Been picking scraps with us for a while now. Now they think they can liberate the island, by getting rid of us. They're normally outgunned and easy to dispose of, but now…. Something has happened. I personally don't know what it is, but it can't be good. They destroyed our camp for fucks sake! Oh, sorry…"

"What?"

"Didn't mean to swear in front of ya."

"Ha, I do swear myself you know. Besides, Vaas never thinks to hold his tongue. If he doesn't throw a "fuckin" in a sentence, then something isn't right."

"I see." The pirate sucked his teeth and tapped the rubber wheel with the tips of his fingers as he darted further and further away from the beach. "Ya know," he began, glancing over to Katerina to see if she was paying attention, which she was, "the journey is gonna' take at least an hour, maybe more - I wanna detour, so that I'm hard to track. Ya might as well get some shut eye, and I'll wake you when we get there."

"Might as well," Katerina mumbled, as she curled up into a ball on the seat, digging her head into the leather and shutting her eyes, "since you can't talk to me."

The pirate laughed and watched as she lay there, cradling herself, with her eyes shut. He observed her chest and stomach rise and fall. She looked so peaceful. He wondered if that was the first ounce of peace that she had gotten in a while. He said nothing more, and turned his full attention to the road, leaving the sleeping lady to get some rest. He took note to avoid any bumps in the road or nasty bends – he didn't want to wake her.

"Rise and shine lass!" the pirate called. His tone of voice was bouncing with glee, and for a moment Katerina thought it was Vaas, and opened her eyes with a relieved smile stretching at the corners of her mouth. When she peered up to see that it was not Vaas she looked away and frowned, _why did Vaas have to leave me? _She thought to herself, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes,_ I don't even know if I can trust the pirate. What if he is lying? Why would he leave me with a stranger? Especially after what had literally just happened a few hours ago. Though… he does seem nice enough, and I haven't seen a face so gentle or heard a voice so serene in a long while. I should quickly smile back, before he asks me anything._

Katerina peered up at the smiling pirate and gave him a grin, as she raked her hand across her face. But then she suddenly whipped her hand away and squealed, jerking her body and sitting up on the seat.

"What's the matter?" the pirate asked in a hectic manner, hovering his hand beside her, ready to grasp her wrist or catch her if she suddenly fell out of the car.

"My face…." she moaned, wincing as she hung her palm over her skin, "it's fucking killing me." She frowned, annoyed at how much her face was burning and throbbing. The pain on her nose clawed at her like an insect, and her cheek burned and itched as if a blaze was sight alight on her bare skin. When she peered around her she saw that he was no longer light out. The golden sun was not shining its beautiful golden beams, and the sky did not show vibrant colours of blue and purple as it did before – _why did I even see the colour purple?_ Katerina asked herself as she glanced up at the sky, _since when did the sky display the colour purple? _Instead of them phenomenal colours that she relished so much before, the sky was black as ebony with hardly any stars out. Katerina wondered to herself, _if it is already night, then how long was I asleep? How long was I in that car? Where am I? Where is Vaas?_

"Where are we?" Katerina groaned, as she crept out of the car, he body stiff from the pain that she endured, "are we at the camp?"

"No, I'm afraid we're not there yet lass. I would have taken ya straight there but my orders were to wait for recruits here, in case anymore Rakyat showed their pink faces."

"Okay."

"Well, I see that whatever ya indulged has worn off."

"What?"

"The narcotics. Painkillers, drugs, alcohol, whatever ya want to call them, they've worn off."

"That's why my face hurts then, I guess."

"Most likely."

"Well, where are we then?"

"Just an outpost, if ya want to call it that. I just call it a wee little shack, with a campfire outside."

The pirate gave a comforting smile and pointed to the shack behind him. It was small, small and wooden with only a small steel lantern to give it light. Outside was a stone fire, already lit, (_did the pirate set it ablaze before waking me? _Katerina pondered) with five wooden stools mounted around it, but the stools were tilting slightly on the uneven ground. Surrounding the shack and its fire was the jungle – Katerina dared to imagine what sort of creatures lurked in the trees at this hour, but it looked as if Katerina was staying here for the night. She began wishing for Vaas' shack to replace this one, for some reason his shack was a whole lot better than this one, maybe because Vaas was included in that deal.

"Are we here for the whole night?" Katerina asked - apprehension creeping into her voice as she shuffled her feet across the ground, slowly dragging her legs towards the fire.

"I would say an hour at the most. More men should show up soon and we will head straight off."

"To the camp?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

Katerina crossed her arms and lobbed her body beside the roaring fire. Her body had begun to tremor and her guess was that it was due to the icy air that clung to her body and nipped at any exposed skin. Katerina closed her eyes and moaned quietly as she stretched out her neck so that the warmth of the fire grazed against her face more intimately. Thoughts of today skimmed through her mind, fluttering in her head chaotically, flashing numerous images of men collapsing onto the floor oozing with blood, explosions of golden sand soaring up into the air, tree bark splintered by darting bullets, men wailing and howling, and Vaas clutching tightly onto his bleeding leg. All of these images shrouded what happened before that. Katerina could hardly recall sitting on the beach with Vaas, having that precious time with him, time that was tranquil, undisturbed and private. No, she could hardly picture that memory. Her memory of the beach is now, and forever will be, tainted with shrill gunshots, explosions of rough gritty sand, men howling like dying animals and rivers blood.

"Ya fancy a beer?"

Katerina peered up to see the familiar gentle Irish pirate gawking at her, with a glimpse of optimism shimmering in his eyes. "Beer?" she coughed, her throat dry from being so close to the flames.

"Yeah, there some in the shack, it's quite fresh. I'm having one."

"Sure, I'll have a bottle."

The pirate gave that same warm, soothing beam and skipped into the shack. He was soon out again with two beers, and he politely handed one to Katerina, but flicking the cap off the bottle with his knife before handing it to her.

"Thanks," she muttered, raising the bottle to her lips and taking a heavy swig of the warm beer.

"Wish it was cold," the pirate grunted, but still in his cheerful tone of voice. He looked over to Katerina with a grin to see if she would say anything, but she said nothing, she did nothing but hold the bottle loosely in her hand whilst glaring blankly into the fire.

"How ya holdin' up lass?" the pirate asked, as he pulled up a withered wooden stool beside her. He watched her intently with curiosity and concern building up in his bright green eyes.

"I'm fine."

"Something troubles ya, don't it?"

"I'm fine, okay?"

"Me' name's Declan, what's yours?"

"Declan?"

"Hey, don't go makin' fun of me name, it's not that bad."

"Didn't say it was, it actually suits you Declan. My name's Kat."

"What, like a wee kitten?"

"Ha, ha. So, you're Irish?"

"Is it that noticeable?"

"Just a tad."

"Ah, I'll just embrace it. Like me ma used to say, embrace who ya are, and don't try to be different, cus' that will never be you - it will be someone else. Probably just a load of quackery."

"No, I think it makes sense."

"Well, if you think it does, well then… I'll continue believing me ma's words of wisdom with ya."

Katerina and Declan continued to sit around the fire, embracing the warm heat, and sipping their bottles of warm beer, and it wasn't long before Declan scurried back into the shack and sprang out of it again grasping onto more beer bottles. Katerina nearly fell into a slumber a couple of times, but kept herself awake with several sips of the warm alcohol.

_It's definitely been more than an hour_, she thought to herself, as she glared at the road opposite her, waiting for a truck to pull up - waiting for something, anything to show itself. _Why is it taking so long? Shouldn't more men be here? I don't really want to spend the entire night here, with Declan or without._

Declan had collapsed onto the floor - locked in a deep drunken slumber - which gave Katerina more reason to stay awake. But something wasn't right, she could feel it in her bones. Dread rushed through her body like the chill of an icy breeze. She had to trust her instinct.

"Declan!" she snapped, but keeping her voice low, "Declan! Declan wake the fuck up you drunken Irish fool!" With annoyance Katerina scooped up an empty bottle and lobbed it at the sleeping Irishman's arm. He awakened with a groan, and scowled at Katerina, knocking the bottle away with the back of his hand.

"Feckin' hell lass! What did ya do that for?"

"It's been well over an hour Declan, where are others?"

"Fuck!"

Declan quickly leapt from the floor, and reached for his gun. Katerina swallowed her breath and fell to the ground, clutching onto the rim of the stool, with her wide eyes locked on Declan and his weapon. She glanced over to the road again, squinting her eyes – attempting to see something in the dark. Nothing. Katerina jumped to the sound of crisp leaves and a few twigs crunching beneath someone's boot, and swiftly vaulted to her feet, grasping on the stool and holding it up, waving it in the air.

"What are ya doing?" Declan whispered, glaring at Katerina with a raised eyebrow.

She scowled and chucked the stool on the floor, watching it roll down the small hill. "Thought I heard something."

"Yeah, ya did. Me."

"Shut up!" she barked in a playful tone, – the same tone one would use to an older brother –and scrunched up her nose and tumbled to the ground with her arms tightly folded across her chest.

"Well," Declan sighed, collapsing to the floor and shutting his eyes once again, "there's nothin' here, they're just late lass, that's all, nothin' to stress ya wee self about."

"What are you doing? Don't you dare fall asleep!"

"I'm only resting me eyes for a wee moment, relax girl."

"But… but the jungle is right there!"

"Nothin' will come out to make a meal out of ya, I promise, okay?"

"I'm going to hold you to that."

Declan didn't answer, he just lied on the ground, breathing loudly through his nose. Katerina shook her head and lobbed it into her palm, she couldn't believe that he had fallen asleep that fast. Katerina, on the other hand, refused to shut her eyes. If a fearsome, wild creature was to spring out from the trees, she would be there, awake and ready, to hurl another empty bottle at sleeping Declan, so that he would wake up and shoot it – or find a way to get rid of it. No, there would be no sleep for her. But, to her misfortune, something did stealthily spring out from the trees, though it was no wild creature, and before Katerina could even reach for an empty bottle to fling at someone, she found herself restrained by a robust pair of tattoo arms - one swathed tightly around her chest and the other around her mouth. She wailed against the skin of the man that was unknown to her, and watched as three more tattoo covered men pointed a gun to Declan, who had only just woken up, but remained still on the floor with his hands raised above his head. He knew, and Katerina knew, that if he reached for his gun, it would result in a receiving a bullet in-between his eyes.

* * *

**O.o So, what is your opinion of this wee chapter? Like the new recruit in this story? Please tell me with a comment! Your all great! Stay awesome! (^.^) x**


	21. The Wolf Within

Fear. Fear was the emotion that flooded Katerina's swelling eyes, fear for her life and for Declan's. The sting of tears burned her eyes, and her lip quivered as droplets began to trickle down her cheek. Katerina scowled and shook her head vigorously – she couldn't let her wet tear touch the tanned tattooed skin of the man that clutched tightly onto her. As she began to move he squeezed her tighter, and Katerina whimpered out a muffled squeal, certain that this man was making bruises on her skin. But when Katerina gazed into Declan's gentle emerald eyes, she saw how completely different they were to her eyes. They remained calm – peaceful like undisturbed water. _How is he this calm? He has three guns pointing to his head. _Katerina thought hysterically, still struggling in the grasp of her kidnapper, _why isn't he doing anything? Wasn't he supposed to be useful for things like this?_

"Get the fuck up pirate!" one of the men spat, tilting his rifle closer to Declan's skin.

Declan raised an eyebrow at him, and shifted his body away from the mouth of the gun. "How about," Declan coolly exclaimed, with his arms still calmly raised beside his head, "ya kindly move ya gun from out of me face. I'll have room to stand then."

"Just get the fuck up you fucking Irish cocksucker!"

"That ain't that nice."

"Believe me pirate! I will put a fucking bullet in your brain! Get the fuck up!"

"Alright, alright."

Declan sighed and slowly began rising to his feet. The man that he spoke to a second ago, was boiling with rage. His eyebrows arched harshly above his eyes and his mouth tautened, with the corners of his lips curling up into a snarl. The veins in his neck and arms were pulsing harshly against his skin that had turned pink from his anger. Declan peered at him but quickly looked away again, biting down on his tongue to hold in his laughter. What was he doing?

"Is that all of you? Are the anymore of _your kind_ lurking about?" The same angered man hissed, pointing his gun closer to Declan, with the mouth of his gun grazing against his neck – Katerina was shocked to see that he still remained so calm. How did he do it?

"Do ya see anyone else about lad?"

Katerina stiffened - she could feel a horrid lump growing in her throat. _What is he doing?_ Her thoughts screamed, with her fingers tightly coiling around the tattoo arm swathed around her. _What the fuck is he doing? He's going to get killed. We're going to get killed! What the fuck is he doing? Why can't he just shut the fuck up?_

The men snickered to each other – surrounding Declan like a pack of vicious hyenas in the wild. Wild animals is what they were. They had seized Katerina and Declan like wild monsters right out of a story book. Katerina couldn't believe what was happening. She was supposed to be somewhere safe. Away from all of this. Away from danger. She should have known something like this would spring up. She was away from Vaas, thus away from any safety she had. If Vaas was here, this would never have happened. Vaas would have put a bullet in their skulls by now. She would have been safe with Vaas.

The last thing she witnessed was the pink-faced man from before suddenly smash the side of his rifle against the back of Declan's head, knocking him unconscious onto the floor. Katerina winced, shrieking to the horrific thud of Declan's skull, but before she could blink the same was done to her. She lay there, in the mud, with her ears ringing. She couldn't hear anything but the annoying buzzing sounds and echoes of sirens ringing through her ear drums. She couldn't lift her head and she couldn't move. All she could see was a daunting pair of shoes in her direct view. She glared at them with dread, until everything went black.

"Wake up sweetheart! It's morning!"

The blinding white light raced into Katerina's pupils and she flinched her body, squinting her eyes until she felt that her body had adjusted to the vivid unnatural light in the room she was in. Where was she? She scanned around frantically and tried to move her arms and legs, so that she could leap to her feet and make desperate a run for it. Though her movements only made her topple over, sending her harshly crashing onto her ribcage with a hard thud onto the rigid floor. She squirmed her body, but scowled, sensing that horrible familiar burn around her wrists and ankles. She wriggled her body again, testing the coils of sandpaper rope that was swathed around her wrists and feet. Her body lurched on the floor as she thrashed her body, pulling at her arms awkwardly, trying to move her arms that were tied behind her back.

"Hey! Hey!" she heard someone snap, with a vicious spark to their tone of voice. Katerina stopped writhing her body and glanced up to the man that spoke. She was greeted with a pair of trainers, then, as her eyes trailed upwards, a knee, then a chest, a neck and a face. The man kneeled beside her, swaying a dagger in his fingers, gawking at her with ravenous eyes. He was quite full in the face and his eyes were very small with dark circles beneath them. Katerina noted how bad his skin was – blotchy, and riven with small scars and burns. He gave a smile, but Katerina knew it was not friendly, it was cold, and startling, as if deep behind his fake grin, he was delivering a warning.

"Listen bitch," he laughed, still smiling that wicked grin. Katerina would have smacked it off his face if her hands weren't tied with the maiming knots of rope. Still showing that grin, he continued "you try and get out of these ropes, you try and escape and I will break your legs, got it?"

Katerina expected a familiar emotion to shudder its way up her body. But a new emotion boiled within her, anger. She was tired of being pushed around, and she would not be pushed around by this prick. "Fuck you!" she spat, glaring into his dark empty eyes, with an angered scowl.

"Yep," he chuckled, glancing over his shoulder and picking himself up. "You're right!" he called, but to whom Katerina did not know, "she is one of them."

"Fuckin' told you." a man replied.

Katerina lifted her head and glanced around her, with her eyes darting in all directions, frantically scanning the room she was confined in. She had been dumped in an old grimy shack that smelt of mud and sweat. There was only one door – a small dark metal door with a rusted door handle – and no windows. The only light that was supplied to the room was from the one light bulb that swung from the ceiling. There was nothing in the shack but piles and more piles of boxes that were messily littered the room. Katerina began scanning the room more anxiously. Where was Declan? Where was he? What had they done to him?

"Shall we take her for interrogation?" one man shakily asked the other. Katerina squirmed to the word. Interrogation. She shuddered to the sound. She dared to imagine what the hidden meaning behind that word was. What sort of unspeakable acts would take place during Interrogation? She shuddered again, and wriggled her body on the ground, hauling her arms and legs towards her chest.

"Hey! Quit your struggling!" the man who addressed her before snapped, smashing his foot against the ground.

"Bite me motherfucker!" Katerina barked back, still tugging her arms and legs and grinding her teeth together as she rocked her body on the floor. Her body jolted to the thunderous thuds of a stamping foot on the wooden floor, getting closer to her. An eruption of pain tugged at the back of her skull, and she squealed as her body was yanked further and further away from the ground. Her body stopped moving once she was on her knees, with the burning sting still pricking at the back of her head. She shivered to the hot sensation of warm breath scratching against her neck. "Do. Not. Antagonise me! Girl!" the man viciously growled, tugging abruptly at her hair strands. She couldn't help but slip another yelp as the man yanked at her hair, intensifying the nipping sting at the back of her skull. The man gave a chilling hiss before he dropped her, sending her to tumble onto the ground, crashing onto her chest and cheek with a thump.

Katerina jumped to a loud slam, the echo bounced off the wooden walls and crates. She snapped her head up quickly – her face felt damp and warm. Her eyes scanned to the floor and she noticed splashes of blood where her head had whacked onto the floor. Blood trickled from her check and splashed onto the wooden ground. The splashes seemed so loud, and they echoed around the shack she was in and rang in her ears, sounding similar to a cow bell or a wind chime. _Great_, she mused with a grunt, _looks like the wound on my cheek will never heal._

Being alone, she quickly sat up, roughly tugging her arms and legs once again. She groaned and grunted as she pulled and pulled again, wincing as the sting on her skin became stronger, and burned deeper into her skin. She stopped, panting and glancing over her shoulder to glimpse at her wrists. The ropes were doused with what seemed like blood, and her skin glowed red. Once she stopped moving the sting burned at her skin, scratching away at her like an animal. She gritted her teeth and turned her head, peering down to examine her ankles. They glowed red too, but didn't seem to bleed as much as her wrists did, but god did it hurt her! It stung like a million bites of an insect or pricks of a nettle or thorn. She squirmed her body, her face scrunching and wincing every time the rope lanced at her seared skin. How was she going to get out of this?

It wasn't long before the door was kicked open, stridently clashing against the wall as it rapidly swung ajar. Katerina jerked her body, leaning back on her knees with her head bowed to the floor. She heard the clatter of shoes stamping like elephants against the floorboards, then she sound of a loud thump and a groan. She scowled at the cluster of snickers that echoed in the room. "We'll come back for you girl!" someone growled with an evil chuckle, slamming the door behind them as they left.

Katerina finally looked up, flicking her tangled hair over her shoulder. On the floor lay a familiar face. Declan. But Katerina frowned to the sight of him. She gawked at him with pity, studying his beaten face that looked agonizingly painful. His whole face had turned red and purple with his swollen eyes that could hardly be opened, and his cheek that was like a red balloon with purple blotches flecked on it. His eyes were closed, with his body motionless. Katerina worried that he might be dead but the loud, heavy breathing proved otherwise. She found herself shuffling closer to him, kneeling beside his head sulking and whimpering beside him. She wanted to comfort him, feed him words of solace or stroke his hair. But she couldn't, she couldn't move her hands and she couldn't bring her trembling lips to move. It was Declan, who spoke first.

"Kat?" he croaked, hardly able to move his lips or let out enough breath to speak. His words were just a low rumble in his throat.

"Yes?" she whispered back to him, sniffling and holding back the tears that stung her eyes.

"Don't… don't say nothin'. Nothin'! Tell em'…."

"Declan what…."

"Tell em' you were kidnapped. Okay? Tell em' the truth. But ya don't know nothin'."

"Are they going to kill you?" Her words became more hysterical, and tears began to stream from her eyes, splashing onto the floor beside Declan's face.

"Ya have nothin' to tell. You've been kidnapped."

"What about Vaas, he'll come…"

"Ya know nothin', okay? Act like ya know nothin'."

She sniffled, nodding and shuffling away from him. Why wouldn't he let her speak? Why did she have to put on an act? How dangerous where these men? Where was Vaas? Why hadn't he come?

Katerina shuddered to the horrid creak that grumbled in the shack, and she quickly wiped the tears from her cheek onto her shoulder – smearing blood on her arm in the process. The same man that spoke to Katerina with that wicked laugh, and the horrid snarl with the evil hiss, stood in the doorway, waving at Katerina as she glanced up to glare at him.

"Your turn missy," he hissed, as he marched over to Katerina, clicking his fists as he came closer to her. Katerina could feel the quickening of her heart, it made her sick – she wanted to vomit. This was fear. She knew she was going to come back out looking like Declan, or worse. Worse still, she may not come out. What if she died? What if he was going to kill her?

As he came closer she shuffled backwards, squealing between her gritted teeth and falling to her back. She kicked her legs as he hovered over her, snickering as he roughly clutched her arm and hauled her to her feet. He seized her chin and squeezed it with his finger and thumb – Katerina snarled, spitting in the man's face with a growl. He snarled, wiping the saliva from his face with his thumb. He then snickered and flung Katerina over his shoulder, tossing her in the air like a lifeless doll, slapping her across the ass once she was hurdled over his arm. Katerina squealed, thrashing her legs against his chest and rocketing her body against his body, but the man held her tight, laughing as he carried her out of the shack into a different one.

She felt the pain rushing up her back and through her legs, her muscles throbbing and tightening as she lay on the floor – the air knocked out of her once lobbed to the ground. She felt another burning pain across her cheek and along her jaw, and her head swung to the side, hurting her neck as it quickly twisted. She could feel a handprint forming on her skin - feel the finger marks burning her cheek. The man stood above her, crouching so that he was to her level.

"So, you wanna' tell me where you're holding up? Eh?" the man growled, his face nearly colliding with hers. "Where your boss is?"

"Boss?"

Without warning, he slapped her again, crashing his palm against the other side of her face. Her head swung the other way with quick motion, and she yelped, feeling and hearing the horrid click in her neck and suffering the lancing pain on the other side of her face. She spat out droplets of blood on the floor and coughed, chocking on her own breath that she struggled to take in.

"Don't fuck with me bitch!"

"F…fuck you!"

Again his hand collided against her skin, this time with added force. Katerina yelped and collapsed to the floor, crashing her ribcage onto the ground and scuffing her cheek across the rough floorboards. She coughed into the floor and buried her face in the ground, spluttering out sobs and letting tear droplets flood her throbbing skin. Her squeals rang through the shack and quietly echoed outside as the wicked man yanked her up by grabbing a fistful of her hair.

"Tell me where it is!" he screamed, roaring down her ear – still tightly clutching onto a clump of her hair.

Katerina shuddered as the whimpers continued to slip from her bloody mouth, "I don't know anything!" she cried out, stuttering on her whines and squeezing her wet eyelids tightly shut – preparing herself for another blow. That other blow surely came, as the man soon delivered another callous clout to her face with an added roar, sending her to tumble to the floor once again with more blood trickling down her skin that was now glowing red.

"Lair!" he bellowed, his voice seeping with ferocity, now standing up and raking his fingertips through his damp brown hair.

Katerina whimpered, curling her body into a ball. "G…go to hell!" she spat, spitting out more blood onto the floor. The man growled, and Katerina squealed. Coughing and wheezing hysterically, crying from the unbearable pain in her stomach after receiving a cruel boot to her gut. The man had kicked her so hard that she thought she was seeing stars in the dark room she was trapped inside. Her stomach felt like it was going to collapse, and her ribcage felt like it was tremoring inside of her. Her stomach turned and twisted – now she thought she was going to vomit. She tried to call for help, but only air would escape her lips. Yet again, that sting lanced at her eyes, and soon they were swelling with tears. Why did this had to happen to her? For the first time, all she wanted was to go home. The comfort of her bed, the safety of being inside her own home. Where no one would harm her physically. Where people were good. Her body quivered on the floor and she wept, like a child, digging her head into the floorboards and letting her tears drown her and saturate the floor. One more blow, one more blow and she was sure it would be the end of her.

The man went to kick her again but his boot stopped mid-air – beside her chest. Katerina wailed quietly, scrunching her face and squinting her eyes. Her body flinched to the tiniest of movements. She couldn't bare it. She couldn't take another blow.

"You're needed." She heard someone grunt – she opened one eye and saw a small man standing in the doorway. The light that speckled into the room blinded her, and stung her eyes and wounded skin.

"I'm a little busy, can't you see?" the man grunted back, slowly lowering his foot back to the floor.

"You're needed."

A low growl seeped from his lips. Katerina winced at the sound of his shoe scuffing against the wooden floorboards, and her body jerked once the door was slammed shut. Why did this have to happen to her? What had she done?

_Come on Kat, _she mused to herself, slowly and shakily lifting her beaten body off of the ground so that she rested on her knees, _you need to get up. You need to try. You can do it! You have to get up. You can't die here. _Every movement she made sent a tremor of excruciating pain to shiver its way up her body, cruelly wrenching at her muscles and scratching away at her skin. She felt that if she was to stand, she would only crumble to the floor again, collapsing into a big lump of broken mess. Though, it wasn't like she could stand anyway – her hands and feet were still tangled with rope.

No. She had to try, she had to try and escape this. What was the point in waiting around to be killed? That wasn't who she was! She was a fighter! From the first day she set foot on this island she fought her way through it, fighting the pirate lord himself. She bit him! Bit Vaas! She couldn't believe she had done that, but she still did, and then she escaped from him – clambered out of his tiny window and skulked her way through his camp. No one found her, she revealed herself! She remembered how she had even killed someone. She had attacked a trained man, who was twice the size of her, and she won, killing the brute in the process. She would not sit gnawing at her cheek, glaring at the door awaiting the moment where the monster would barge his way back in to inflict more and more pain onto her – smashing her into pieces until there was nothing left of her. No, she would not allow that to happen. She would fight. She would not make it easy for him. She was a fighter! She was a survivor!

"Right, how am I getting out of here?" Katerina asked herself, once again trying to haul her stinging bleeding wrists out of the maiming knots of coarse rope. She could try this all day – she wasn't getting out of the ropes without someone or something to help her. Biting onto her lip she quickly scanned around the dark tiny room she was in – holding back the tears that pricked at her eyes, as every twitch, every movement, sent a rush of pain to rip at her body. "Fuck!" she yapped aloud, tugging at her arms again – her face dripping with sweat and blood.

Katerina squinted her eyes, shielding her pupils from the white glimmering light that jabbed at her pupils. But, the door was not open, and there were no windows and hardly again light coming from the dim light bulb that dangled from the cobwebbed riven ceiling. Where was it coming from? What was it? She fidgeted on the floor, whipping her head side to side in a frantic motion, scanning her eyes desperately around the hazy room for whatever caught her eye. In the corner of the room, a wondrous silver object glistened and Katerina let out a sigh of relief, and tears trickled down her cheek as she shuffled closer to what seemed to be some sort of screwdriver.

Her teeth gnawed down onto her lip so harshly that she drew blood, tears brimming her eye lashes as she scuffled her body closer to the corner. Each movement made her body scream. She wanted to stop. She wanted to allow her body to plummet onto the floor and remain there lifeless and still, but she couldn't allow that – she had to get out; she was focusing on her survival now. She couldn't rely on anyone to save her; she had to rely on herself. Vaas had abandoned her, left her to rot. She had to save herself.

Katerina leaned her body back and fiddled around for the screwdriver that was lobbed in the corner. Her tongue stuck out from the side of her mouth as she stretched out her fingers, scratching at the floorboards and rummaging her fingers around the floor. At last her fingers coiled around the object she needed so badly, and she grinned, laughing with ease as she panted heavily – her body thriving with agony. Though she knew she couldn't stop, and bit down onto her lip again, twisting the screwdriver in her hand and using it to slice the rope. She quickly began to move her wrist up and down but stopped, squealing with her mouth tightly shut, dropping the screwdriver onto the floor in the process. The agonizing sting lanced at her wrist, and she growled at the warm wet sensation trickling down her hand. She bit onto her tongue and tried again. This time proved successful and at last she could move her throbbing wrists. She grimaced at the sight of them – seared, bruised and saturated in warm blood that continued to dribble down her hand. But there was no time to dwell in self-pity – there was no telling when the monster would stalk his way back in.

After untying the knots from around her ankles, Katerina sluggishly stumbled to her feet, but after balancing on them for just a second she soon toppled to the ground again, crashing onto her stomach. She let out a groan, rubbing her cheek on the floor and letting her hair fall over her face, covering her like a blanket. Her arms quivered violently as she pushed herself from the floor. She moved as quickly as she could possible move, treading one foot in front of the other with care but with haste. There was only one way she could do this, and that was to rush out of the door and slunk her way around the back of the shack so that she was out of view. She could only hope that she would escape unseen. Hopefully luck would be on her side.

She took in one breath, and held it in her lungs, as she slowly shoved the door open with the tips of her fingers. She kept the screwdriver hidden in her back pocket – this was the only protection she had, and no one was going to take it from her. Her tongue raced across her lip, snapping up speckles of blood, as she peered outside with a grimace. Luck was on her side – no one was there.

She had one chance, this one moment to sneak out quickly, and run, run and never look back. She had to go, and she had to go now. She took in another breath and sneaked through the doorway, leaving it ajar as she left it. Her body remained low – staying in a stone like crouch as she limped away from the door. She couldn't risk being out in the open, so instead she slunk her way towards a cluster of lush bushes beside the shack. The hot sticky air clung to Katerina's damp skin, latching onto her like an illness. Why did it have to be so hot? Plus, dragging her feet across the ground was a strenuous, excruciating task to carry out – she thought that her body was going to crumble into pieces at any moment. She wanted to stop. She wanted to stop so badly.

Declan! She forgot about the gentle Irish pirate. Could she really leave him to die? He was so kind to her, he was like a brother – a friend. He was the only person she had spoken to besides Vaas. How could she leave him to die? Die here? She didn't have it in her to do that, she wasn't stone, and she wasn't impassive, not yet. But how would she help him?

The familiar shrill explosions of gunshots trembled through the air, and they got louder and louder by the second. Katerina's gut tightened and twisted – she could feel butterflies flutter in her stomach. She moved the leaves with her fingers and peered out from the bush – she couldn't see a thing.

"Fuckers!" she heard a man scream chaotically outside with a jovial tone to his voice – it was like he was enjoying it. "Think you can fuck with me, eh? Who's laughing now?"

That man, she knew that man, she knew that voice – that familiar soothing voice, which was like music to her hears. It was chaotic, it was loud…. It was Vaas. Who else would it have been? He came! He actually came! She could feel her body sink into the ground – she felt her stomach drop and sink deeper and deeper inside of her. Tears teemed her eyelashes. She was so relieved. She couldn't believe that was him. Vaas was here.

More gunshots echoed in the air, with that horrid clatter of howls and screams. Again she heard Vaas speak, she was so happy to hear the sweet sound of his voice. "You fuckers thought you were being smart," he screamed, his voice bouncing with jest, but with added anger grumbling in his throat, "look where it got you. Look where it fuckin' got you!" "I'm taking back my camp and my men, by taking your camp and your people! Destruction! It's a price you must pay!"

Smash! Katerina felt the sudden thump of her head smash against the ground – her ears chimed; she was certain that she could see stars in the daylight. Her throbbing body dragged along the ground – the grass scratched at her skin, wickedly nipping at her body as she was hauled roughly out of the bush that clawed at her face and yanked at her hair strands. She squealed, raking her fingertips through the mud as she was lugged out into the open. Just as she feared – that same horrid monster crouched above her, clutching onto her hair as he lay above her as she laid on her stomach.

"How the fuck did you get out?" he spat, tugging viciously at her hair as he hissed on her neck. She shivered from the warm repulsive breath that reeked off tobacco and beer. The alcohol that swamped her when she was with Vaas smelt like cologne compared to this horrid creature above her. With one quick movement of his hand he swiftly flipped her around so that she toppled onto her back, laying with her head submerged in the grass as she peered up to look at him. His hand came down on her, hitting her with brutal force on her cheek, in which she screamed and kicked her legs as she thrashed her body.

"I'm going to kill you!" he growled, laughing as he grabbed her wrists, "and I'm going to do it slowly. Look at me, I should have been a pirate, because I'm enjoying this."

"No!" Katerina screeched, rocketing her body on the floor – adrenaline pumping through her blood – and screaming at the top of her lungs. "Get the fuck off of me!"

Somehow she managed to slip her hand away from his grasp, but instead his hand dove for her neck, in which his grimy fingers coiled around her skin, shoving her head into the ground as he squeezed her tightly. She could feel the air from her lungs fading, and she knew that colour in her face was being drained by the second. But she would not give up! She refused to die by his hand! With her last breath she rummaged through her back pocket, grasping onto the screwdriver that she stashed away, and with all her strength she plunged the tip of the screwdriver into the monsters waist. He let out a thunderous growl, darting away from her, with blood trickling down onto her bare stomach – for some reason her top had shrivelled up to her chest, exposing the bottom part of her breast.

She shuffled away quickly, coughing and wheezing and still clutching tightly onto her weapon – no one was going to take it from her. No one. She waved it in the air, clutching onto it with both hands. He was enraged. His eyes looked as if they were going to pop out from his skull – she could feel the heat radiating from his incensed body. Her heart jerked in her ribcage, and the blood rushed to her head with the adrenaline still flowing through her veins. She managed to stumble to her feet, giving a snarl as she incited him to make a move. She could no longer feel the pain shiver its way through her body, it wasn't there anymore. She wanted this. She wanted to fight this man. She wanted to kill him. He deserved to die.

"Come on you fucking piece of shit!" Katerina barked, crouching with a daring predatory manner. Who was this girl? "Let's see if you have dick? Come on fucker! Give me your best shot! See how much of a man you are!"

"I'm going to enjoy this!"

"So am I!"

He made the first move, darting towards her like a wild lunatic animal. She grinned and swivelled her body away from him, slashing him with her weapon as he lunged past her. His groans echoed through the air, with his blood oozing to the floor and smearing on his clothes. She felt like a wolf, wild and untamed - fresh out the pride, hungry for the first kill. She knew she could do this. She felt it within her. The fire within her burning, growing and growing with power and humidity. She was dangerous. She felt dangerous. She grinned and goaded the confused brute on. He gave a snarl and lunged for her again, rushing towards her with his giant paws raised above him. This time he got her, knocking her to the floor. But this wasn't the end. She grunted, and swiftly rolled away from him, leaping to her feet and charging at him with a growl. She ripped the skin in his chest with her screwdriver, digging her weapon into his flesh with great satisfaction, growling and howling as she smashed her foot against his ribcage, and harshly smashed her heel against his shin. He stumbled backwards moaning, gasping for breath as she continued to strike him with her fists, feet and screwdriver. She pounced towards him, stabbing her weapon into his shoulder with a bark. He wailed with fury, reaching up and snatching a clump of her hair, dragging her down to floor with her squealing.

He began laughing, Katerina glared at him with a snarl. "Now," he chuckled, with a low growl rumbling in his throat, "You're going die. I'm going to kill you, just like I did to your fucking Irish friend."

"You didn't. You lie."

"No. He's dead, and your next."

He continued to chuckle, his grin widening, stretching to his cheek. Katerina's face boiled, her eyebrows arching over her eyes and her nose scrunching up on her face. She scowled, gritting her teeth and growling like the vicious wolf within her. She stuck the screwdriver in his mouth, resting it on his tongue, and he froze, his eyes growing wide and flooding with dread. "You're wrong, you're the one who is dead."

He squealed and went to dart to his feet but he was too late. Katerina sliced her weapon across to the side of his mouth, ripping it through his flesh, slicing up and up and up until she reached the top of his cheek, in which she pulled her weapon out again. He wailed, blood seeping from his mouth and drenching his clothes, and before he could look up to react Katerina plunged the screwdriver into his chest, again and again and again, screaming with tears splashing from her eyes.

She didn't take the screwdriver out. She just watched as he collapsed to the floor, crashing onto the ground like a sack of flour. She could feel her lip tremble as she watched the pool of blood ooze from his body. Was he telling the truth… about Declan?

She sluggishly shuffled her feet across the grass, slowly turning her body around – feeling that horrific rush of agonising pain tug at every body part and score her skin. She glanced up, slowly raising her head and then she stopped – stopped moving, stopped breathing even. In front of her was him, glaring with wide eyes filled with shock as he glared at her, then at the body on the floor. Vaas. He was here. He came closer, his jaw dropped and his hand rushed to her body. What was wrong? Katerina glared at him, her eyebrows raised in confusion. His body was so close to hers. He smelt so sweet, and she wanted to keep him close forever. The pain seemed to flush out of her body when he was near. He glanced down to her stomach and back up to her face - a dreaded grimace drowned his face. Was he worried? Why was he worried? She was safe now. But suddenly she felt as if she couldn't breathe – she was choking on her own breath. Her gut tugged painfully, and her lungs strained and tightened. The very air made her dizzy and she felt as if her world was spinning. She felt something wet ooze down her leg, and looked down to herself seeping with blood. She never realised that he hand was clutching the bottom of her stomach, and when she moved it away she seen how it was red and dripping with her blood. She gasped for breath and glanced down, tears trickling down her cheek and onto her breast. She tapped the blade that was plunged into her stomach then felt herself falling. She panted and sobbed in Vaas' arms as she felt herself slipping away. She didn't want to die. She couldn't! Not now. She wanted to speak, tell Vaas that she think she loved him. Tell him something but nothing would slip from her lips. More and more blood seeped out from her flesh, until everything went black with her body as still as stone.


	22. Lost in a Dream

**Hi all! I'm back with another chapter! What? Did you think that the book had finished? No, I'm not that cruel to leave it so short. Well, like always, thank you all so much for all the support! I probably wouldn't still be writing this if it wasn't for you all! The support am I getting so far is amazing! I couldn't be happier. So thank you! Thank you! Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you get to the new chapter. Hope you all enjoy it!**

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It was dark, black as ebony, with a small ball of white light hovering in the air, flashing and spurting out speckles of white beams onto the blackened floor and into the golden eyes that glared at it. Muffles of whispers, speaking over each other in a quick and frantic tone all at one time, echoed in the air, deriving from this little ball of bright light. Some words were gentle whispers, others were hysterical shouts and barks, shaking with a feral anger that would startle anyone who would dare to listen.

Katerina was here watching this, slowing treading closer to this light – until she got so close that she could almost touch it. She reached out her arm, and stretched out her fingers, leaning on her tip toes as she stretched her body closer to this murmuring ball of light. Her eyes squinted as the light sprang into her pupils. The world before he got brighter, too bright – so bright that the light began to burn her pupils, creating that all so familiar sting of tears to prick at her blinded orbs. She snapped her head away, burying her face into her arm – shrouding her eyes – until she could feel the heat of light graze her fingertips. She leant her body closer and stopped when an odd shrill piercing ring echoed through her ear drums, making Katerina's head light and dizzy, until she found herself slipping away – sinking further and further into the ground as if it was quick sand. Was this a dream? Or was this death?

With a thud Katerina crashed onto the ground. She braced herself, crinkling her nose, clenching her hands into fists and squeezing her eyes tightly shut as she prepared herself for a familiar horrid rush of pain. She waited, and seconds past, and still her body did not flinch. One eye finally opened, then soon the other and soon her body relaxed. Where was the pain? She felt nothing, no tightening of the muscles or burning of the skin. Nothing. Perhaps this was death, because why would you feel the torments of pain and suffering in death? Death was an escape. Pain was an entrapment and a curse - all the similarities of life.

Katerina scanned around her, swinging her head side to side as she scanned her area. Everything seemed to move slower. Her hair no longer whipped side to side but instead fluttered, as if time itself had come to a stop – as if the world had stopped spinning and now stood still. With a gentle push of her fingertips, Katerina managed to scramble to her feet – delighted to feel no pain. She felt weightless, as if her body weighed less than a feather as she pushed her weight into the ground, slowly rising to her feet. The calming tranquillity, the treasured silence, was soon disturbed by the brash clatter of feverish shouting and shrill explosions. She glanced around her and winced at the amount of bodies that came rushing past her, moving like ghosts through the black empty air. The men were being chased, like how a pack of wolves would chase its prey. They were hunted by growling men dressed in red, clutching onto guns and knives – trapping the scurrying men in a corner and shooting them dead like dogs in a street. Katerina turned around, tears lancing at her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, and drew her attention to the new figure that rushed her way. A familiar face, with a familiar scent that made her nose burn, and her head swoon. It was Vaas. He looked hysterical, with sweat pouring from his brow as he screamed chaotically – his voice grumbling with a frightening anger. Something swung in his arms, no… someone. Katerina gasped and her eyes widened. It was her, she could see her own body being carried by Vaas. Her body was as lifeless as a doll, and her head hung over his arm with her eyes tightly shut, and with blood trickling down her skin. Vaas was covered in blood too, as if he had leapt in a pool of it. Katerina waved her arms in the air like a hysterical child, screaming Vaas' name as he ran past with her own body in his arms. But when he reached too close, he evaporated into the air, like smoke disappearing after you waft it away. He was so close to her. She could nearly touch him, and now… now he was gone. Katerina felt her chest quaking, and coughed as her throat began to go dry and swell, as she stuttered out muffled whimpers. Tears sprinkled from her eyes into the air, and soon Katerina fell to her knees, leaning on her heels so that her body swayed side to side. She continued to weep, burying her face into her arms that rested on her knees. She didn't want to be alone in the dark. She didn't want this. Why did this have to happen to her? She was never going to leave this place, was she?

Katerina jumped to the startling explosion of a gunshot that rang like a siren in her ears. It sounded close. Katerina peered up, her eyelids wet from her tears, to see Vaas standing beside her. Katerina would have smiled but the dreaded black empty air surrounded him. She was still stuck in this dreaded place. Perhaps she really was dead.

His stance made her wary. It was like the old Vaas that frightened her so much. He stood, with his back arched, with a predatory manner, shaking the gun that was in his hand. A chaotic chuckle seeped from his lips and made Katerina shiver. She looked ahead and saw a face she would have never imagine she would see. Jason? Was it? It was, it was Jason Brody - the ambitious and adventurous Californian kid that decided he would tag along with his two brothers, Grant and Riley, and be a part of the wild, electrifying holiday that everyone planned to have. During their trip, like when aboard the yacht – soaking up the golden hot sun, and embracing the serene echo of the waves – he would always ask how Katerina was, or attempt to make conversation. He would insist on having a drink with her in Bangkok, and even bought her one or two a few times. He became quite close to her, clung onto her like a puppy, and Katerina even pondered with the thought that the lad from California was beginning to show some sort of affection towards her. She had forgotten about all of that. Forgotten about partying in Bangkok, then hiring the yacht and taking it out to sea. She had forgotten about the laughs and the thrills that everyone shared. She forgotten everything. Everything was just… a blur now.

Katerina brought her attention back to Jason, observing his body and his surroundings with concern. He was quivering, like a frightened child, hovering over a body and frantically pressing his hand onto the body's neck. Grant! It was Grant, his brother, no… no he couldn't possibly be dead. Could he? Maybe he was stuck here too.

Blood oozed from Grant's neck, making Katerina wince and tremble. Vaas continued to chuckle, but Vaas' mood suddenly changed, and he began to shout. A piercing thunder of anger erupted from his lips as he threatened the wailing brother that tried so hard to stop the bleeding that seeped from his sibling's neck. "What? Huh? What? You want to run? Huh?" He spoke so quickly, a lunatic clatter of words, gradually becoming louder and more angered. He continued, taunting Jason with an incensed manor to his tone of voice, "You want to run, you want to disrespect me? You want to fuck with me? I mean you come here, with your… with your pretty boy face, right, and your pretty boy phone and your dimwit brother and you want to fuck with me? You want to fuck with me?" Katerina turned her head up to look at him as he paced up and down like an animal. She cradled her knees as he continued, his voice becoming calmer but still it was hostile and alarming, "I like that, no, I respect that! I'm gonna' give you thirty seconds, and if this jungle doesn't eat you up alive, I will. Go, go."

Suddenly Katerina was no longer beside Vaas' boots. She was in front of him, wriggling on the floor as Vaas' cold fierce eyes glared right at her. He bent his body to side, with an insane nature, whistling as his eyebrows arched wickedly over his stone eyes. "What, are you fucking death?" His voice was a scream, hostile and definitely terrifying. It rang through her ears like a dreaded roar from a monster – this was a nightmare. He was speaking to her. Aiming his vicious cruel threats at her. Katerina could feel the cold grasp of fear latch onto her shuddering skin, and shiver its way up her body as she squirmed further and further away from him. Vaas' hands clenched into fists as he roared, "I said get the fuck out here you chicken fuck! Run forest! Run!"

Her feet hurdled up from the ground without her knowing, and soon she felt a cold draft burst in her face and onto her neck as she frantically sprinted deeper into the darkness. At one point she thought she heard the growl of a dog, and the clatter of guns. She didn't look back – she just kept on running, gnawing onto her lip and digging her fingernails into her palms as she continued to run, sweat dripping from her brow and running down her back. She was running so fast and in such a frantic manor that it was proved impossible to stop herself, as she soon felt her body falling through the black air. The gust of wind brushed through her hair as she plummeted closer to the bottom. She couldn't think to do anything but scream at the top of her lungs, awaiting the moment were her body would smash onto the ground.

She did hit the ground, but again no pain was there to greet her coldly. The only thing that was there was a familiar gentle friendly voice that echoed into her ears. "Ya shouldn't have came here lass." A gentle voice warned, with that soothing Irish twang to each word. Katerina quickly picked herself up, a smile stretching to her cheeks as she glanced around for her Irish friend. But the face that she did see only made her gasp for breath and scuttle away. It was him. The tattooed, alcohol reeking monster. He gave that same callous grin, and hissed, "You can't run now."

A shrill ear-splitting scream erupted from Katerina's mouth, as she lay on the bed, in a shack, with her hands beside her head. Her eyes had slammed shut, but her mouth was open wide as the scream continued to escape from her lips. She was locked in a slumber – a state of unconsciousness – and soon a pair of hands grasped onto her arm, pinning her to the bed that she lay on. The screams continued, as she thrashed her feet in the air. The man that seized her shook her as he barked her name over her shrill squeals. He shook her shoulders, frantically ordering her to "wake up!"

It was Vaas. "Katerina wake up! Wake the fuck up!" he barked, still shaking her by the shoulders, "hey! Hey! Wake up! Wake up!"

At last Katerina's eyes sprang open, and the screaming discontinued and was replaced with a dry wheezing cough, in which Vaas patted her back as she arched her body forward.

"Fuck!" Vaas yapped, still rubbing his palm up and down her back, "you scared the fuck out of me!"

"V…Vaas?"

Vaas scrambled onto the bed beside her, and hauled her onto his lap, cradling his robust arms around her as she buried her head into his chest. Katerina's fingers trailed up his arm, until she reached his hand, in which her quivering fingers coiled around it as her body curled up into a ball. Her beating heart was pounding rapidly against her chest, and her breathing had become shaky as she struggled to take in a proper breath. Was that a dream? Or was this the dream?

Vaas could feel Katerina's body quiver against his, and the quickening pulse he detected from her wrist made him hug her tighter. His body began to rock back and forth has soothing whispers glided from his lips, "shhh," he hummed, as Katerina began to whimper, digging her face into Vaas' chest, "don't ever fucking do that to me again, okay?"

"It was horrible..." Katerina whined, barely able to project her words, "I was trapped in the dark…. I couldn't get out… alone… I couldn't…"

"Shhh," Vaas soothed, pressing his lips against the top of her head, "It's okay, it's okay. You're okay, just calm down amada. It was nothing, okay? You're safe and sound… back to the land of the living, eh? Calm down and stop your crying. Shhh. Relax, relax."

"W…where am I?"

Katerina scanned around her, still clutching onto Vaas' arm, embracing the serene heat that radiated from his body which cradled her like one would do to a small child. Katerina and Vaas sat on a large double bed, with a chipped metal head board at the top. Katerina looked down to the bed, studying the two mattress' that were piled on top of each other that she had probably been sleeping on. There were no sheets – only a thin grey blanket, and two flat pillows. It wasn't five star quality but it was better than nothing – better than anything she had gotten so far. The room Katerina and Vaas was in was quite large. Near the base of the bed was a withered and torn black couch, with a wooden coffee table in front of it – which was littered with empty bottles, syringes and ash from burned cigarettes. Katrina was surprised to see the flat screen television situated at the back of the room, opposite the bed, and the stereo system that was lashed in the corner. There were two wardrobes in here, one, you could clearly see, was packed with clothes and boots, and the other was locked tight with a pad lock and chain – why the precaution?

A low chuckle grumbled in Vaas throat, as he rested his chin on Katerina's head. A smile stretched across his face as he looked down to peck Katerina on the head. With a squeeze of Katerina's body he released a loud sigh, and purred, "You're in my house baby. A better camp, and you will stay here, with me… unless, I decide to put you somewhere else…" Katerina gawked up at him and frowned. Vaas only erupted into more laughs, rocking Katerina's body with his arms as he nestled his face into her neck, whispering "do you like your new home?"

"Well… I haven't looked around yet."

"No, you haven't have you amada?"

Vaas snickered again, punching the bed as he leapt to his feet. With the flick of his heel, he spun around to face Katerina, who curled up on the bed glaring at him as she chewed her lip. Vaas tutted and shook his finger at her, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "Hey," he yapped, hilarity juggling in his voice, "don't go gnawing at your lip, it has only just healed! If you really want to tear it up again, you might as well let me do it for you."

Vaas clapped, and rubbed his palms together, striding over towards a table that was stationed beside the door of the room. Katerina couldn't see what Vaas was getting, as he was blocking the way with his back. "So, amada," Vaas hollered, spinning around, clutching onto an orange as he skipped back towards the bed, "are you hungry?"

He didn't wait for her to answer, and instead lobbed his body onto the bed beside her and began peeling the orange peel from the piece of fruit.

"Vaas…" Katerina coughed, rubbing her eyes gently with her finger and thumb, "thanks but… I'm not hungry. I don't want anything."

"Kat. You haven't ate in days. I'm not giving you a fucking choice. I will fuckin' force this down your throat if I have to."

"Days?"

"You've been out for two weeks, maybe more. Woke up a few times, but you didn't have a fucking clue what was going on, like your mind wasn't in the right place. But when you did wake, the doc managed to get some food and water down you. Gave me a fucking fright. Thought you had curled over amada."

"Doctor? What?" Katerina giggled, brushing her body up against Vaas and biting down on her lip as she fluttered her long black eyelashes at him. "Was you worried?"

"I thought you were dead chica. You were probably seconds away from dying when I found you. Left in my hands and not a docs… well you would you be dead, believe me Kat. But fuck, I knew you would eventually pull through. Why would I be worried?"

"You just said that I gave you a fright."

"Mainly because you looked like a fucking zombie. Eat."

Vaas waved a piece of orange beside Katerina's mouth, pressing it against her barred lips. She shook her head away and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't want any." She droned, looking at Vaas rather than the piece of fruit.

"Did I say, can you eat this? No, I didn't. It wasn't a fucking question. Now eat, or I will shove it down you."

"Why are you so demanding?"

"Kat!"

She scowled, pursing her lips and scrunching her nose. Vaas glared at her and cocked an eyebrow, projecting the "I'm waiting" glare as his expression grew with irritation. Katerina eventually rolled her eyes, and gently tugged the piece of fruit from Vaas' grasp with her teeth. The explosion of sweetness and tang made her slip a moan as her tongue lavished the mouth-watering fruit that was locked in her mouth. As soon as the orange touched her tongue, her stomach growled – she really was hungry. She wanted more, and glared at the remaining slices of orange that rested in Vaas hand. Vaas beamed and kindly placed another slice onto her tongue, and soon enough all the orange was gone.

"Why don't you go and refresh in up?" Vaas suggested, twisting the orange peel in his fingertips, "Get washed and change into some clothes."

Change? For the first time Katerina looked down at herself. For some reason, the thought of her being completely naked crossed her mind – though if that was true Vaas probably would have just been staring; he was a man after all. Though she wasn't far off, as she was only in her underwear.

"There are cleans clothes and underwear in the bathroom. But, please don't be too fucking long in the shower." Vaas exclaimed with a wave of his head, hauling himself from the bed and snapping his fingers towards the door on the right.

"Shower?"

"Yes, a fuckin' shower. What? Did you think I wouldn't have running water in my own home?"

With a chuckle he was gone, slamming the door shut behind him as he left. Katerina glared at the door for a while, wanting him to burst back in again. But the shower was calling to her, the hot water racing down her skin. You can never appreciate the pleasures of hot running water until you came to an uncharted island, such as this one.

Katerina kicked her feet and slumped off of the bed, ruffling her fingers through her hair as she toddled along to the bathroom. _This must be Vaas' room_, she mused as she pushed open the door with her fingertips, _who else would have an en-suite?_

With a gleeful grin, Katerina kicked off her black underwear and unbuckled her bra, shoving it away with her foot as it crashed against the stone ground. The shower was suspended from the wall, with a large plank of wood acting as the shower wall. Water droplets dripped from the shower head and splashed onto the damp ground, with the echo of the shrill splashes bouncing of the stone walls in the square shaped room. There was a crooked mirror hanging from the wall, and Katerina caught glimpse of herself in it before treading her foot into the shower. She glared at her face, poking her skin with her fingertips. There wasn't a bruise or mark on her, to her relief, she was completely healed, and she was beginning to look like her old self again. However, there was one change. A scar that was engraved on her cheek - ragged and deep. Though she oddly liked it, and thought that it suited her – gave her that savage look that made her blend in with the island. Just like Vaas.

Glancing away from her reflection Katerina stepped in shower and titled her head up to look at the rounded leaking shower head. The water droplets splashed against her skin, running down her cheek and dampening her hair. Her fingertips found the controls, and soon enough an explosion of running water erupted onto Katerina's body, flooding her skin as the water crashed down on it. A small squeal slipped from her lips as she stumbled backwards, dodging the water that was as cold as ice. Her body quivered as she shakily held out her hand, waiting for the water to warm up. The cold droplets of water rushed down her arm, causing shivers to judder its way up her body and make her lips tremble from the cold. At last the water began to heat up, though not too much, and Katerina believed it was safe to lean her whole body into the shower.

She allowed the warm soothing water to rain on her head first, standing there with her eyes closed as the water droplets rushed down her back, seeping through her hair and trickling from the strands and onto the floor. She snatched up the soap that was lobbed in the corner and began rubbing it across her body. A small moan slithered from her lips as her fingernails dug through her hair, rubbing the soap into her scalp and rinsing it out again with the water once done. Her fingertips trailed down her stomach and then she stopped, a confused scowl growing in her face. The base of her stomach felt different, abnormal, with a strange raised surface that bitterly scratched at her skin. When she glanced down she saw the horrendous daunting black stitches were sewn into her skin – a long unsightly black line at the bottom of her stomach. Then she felt the pain, the callous biting pain that ripped at her gut, sending Katerina to crash onto the floor with a heavy thud. She remembered. Remembered that horrific brutal fight, and how she won… but how she nearly died. She gritted her teeth and prodded at her stitching, wincing and groaning whenever the horrid familiar sting and burn of agony clawed viciously at her skin.

Her hand reached up on the wall and tugged at the controls to turn off the shower – though water droplets still splattered against her skin once it was turned off. With a heavy grunt, she manage to haul her body out from the shower – dragging herself across the floor by clawing her fingernails into the rigid stone ground that chipped her nails. Tears lanced at her eyes as the pain in her gut expanded, slashing and searing her flesh with a malicious pleasure. She let out a muffled sob, as she attempted to reach for the towel that was hanging from a hook on the wall beside the shower. She could feel the colour being flushed out from her face, as the world around her began to shake and shudder. The ringing of a door slamming shut rang through her ears. "V…Vaas?" she slurred, with her body slowly collapsing to the floor. She cradled her body with her arms and legs and tried her best to sit up, knocking the back of her head against the wall as she slowly opened and closed her eyes, trying her hardest to stop the world from spinning so quickly.

"Fuck amada what happened?" a familiar voice grunted.

Katerina glanced up – the horrid lump in her throat preventing her from speaking. The evil grasp of the cold air could no longer bite at her skin once Vaas wrapped the towel around her body. He gently rubbed the fabric against her skin, before lifting her into the air, carrying her out of the bathroom and placing her on the couch that sat at the base of the bed.

"Here," he grunted, grasping her chin and prying her mouth open with his fingertips, "Take this."

Before she could protest, Vaas had forced a pill down her throat, swilling it down with a mouthful of water that he tipped into her mouth. Katerina coughed, her throat drowning from the unexpected amount of water that Vaas flushed down her.

"Relax." Vaas yapped, brushing the hair from her face, "this painkiller won't make you high, I promise." "Get dry."

Vaas handed Katerina the glass of water he had just flushed down her throat, and marched into the bathroom. Katerina shook her head, and knocked back the last mouthful of water. Her head slowly stopped shaking, and the agony that pricked at her slowly ceased. Katerina, feeling that it was safe to stand, lugged herself up from the couch and quickly brushed the towel across her skin. The stifling heat that hung in the room helped to dry Katerina more quickly.

"Here's your clothes, and a comb, oh and I have…"

"Vaas!"

Katerina suddenly flipped her body around, hugging the towel close to her, concealing her body as she glared at Vaas, with a red heat glowing in her cheeks.

"I have seen you naked before, you know."

"So!" Katerina crinkled her nose, and squirmed on her feet, "I'm not yet comfortable with… please, I don't want to be gawked at all the time."

"I wasn't gawking, you nearly passed out. I had to more than just stare."

"Can I just have the clothes please."

"Fine," Vaas gave a chuckle and a smirk, taking one step closer to Katerina. "Catch!" Without warning Vaas suddenly lobbed her clothes in the air, and they zoomed towards Katerina with a rapid speed. Katerina's reaction was the reach her hands up to catch it, and that's what she did, sending her towel to flutter to her feet. She screamed, snatching the clothes in the air and using them to hide her body.

"Vaas what the fuck!" she squealed, once again awkwardly fidgeting on her feet.

A low chuckle erupted from Vaas' lips as he crashed onto the bed, resting his head on the head board as he yanked a cigarette and a match from his pocket. The thick smoke that drifted in the air, made Katerina cough as she retreated to the bathroom. Thick smoke and the clammy blistering air was not a good mix.

"Where are you going?" Vaas groaned, pulling the cigarette from his lips and blowing out a haze of grey smoke into the air.

"Getting changed, away from you!"

Vaas grunted something in Spanish beneath his breath as he brought the cigarette back to his lips – something Katerina couldn't and didn't wish to understand.

Katerina kicked the door open with her heel, scowling to the loud creak that rang in the room as the door swung ajar – it made Katerina shiver; she hated that noise. "Where did you get this?" Katerina asked, a hint of suspicion rumbling in her voice. She was referring to the clothes she now wore - a pair of dark blue slim fitting jeans, with several rips and tears in, and a black vest top. She also pondered about the clean underwear she worn, she knew it was clean but the thought of where Vaas got it clicked across her mind.

"Does it matter?" he grumbled back, snubbing the end of his cigarette against the wall, letting the grey ashes flutter to wooden floorboards.

"Well, please tell me that you didn't pull this off a dead person."

"The person I got it from was not dead, and their clean. The underwear is new."

"How do you know it's new?"

"I asked the person I took it from."

"Took it from?"

"A couple recently washed up on my island. The girl was carrying a suitcase. Did you forget what my occupation was?"

"No. I didn't. What, then? You just shot them and took their things?"

"No. I shot the whiny and protesting little bitch that followed her around, and sold her. Now you have new things to wear. The suitcase is in the corner, if you want to rummage through it – as long as you hand me anything of value; there's always money to make."

"Okay, sure…thanks… for the new clothes."

"Whatever. They actually suit you. I like you wearing jeans."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Katerina kicked her feet and clambered up onto the bed beside Vaas, raking a comb through her knotted damp hair as she curled up next to him – she was surprised at how quick her hair was drying.

"Do you want something proper to eat?" Vaas snorted, pushing one of Katerina's hair strands behind her ear.

"No, I think I'll wait a moment."

Her body brushed against Vaas' as she shuffled up closer to him, flickering her eyelashes and stretching her neck up to kiss his lips. A small grunt escaped Vaas' mouth as she buried her lips into his, treasuring the taste of him, the smell of him and how he felt to touch with the tips of her fingers. Two hands brushed up her neck, with Vaas' thumb caressing Katerina's jaw as Katerina pushed her tongue through his mouth.

A hand cupped Katerina's skull as Vaas buried his head and body deeper into Katerina – slowly positioning Katerina underneath him, with him laying above her, but arching his back so that he didn't lean on her stomach. Katerina reached up her arm, trailing her hand up Vaas' neck then raking her fingertips through his Mohawk. His hand found its way down her body, down to her waist, were he brushed off her top and bra. He began kissing her neck, gently nipping at her skin as his hand toyed with her breasts. A small gasp sprang from Katerina's lips as he dug his face deeper into her skin. Her fingertips darted to the edge of his top, and she eagerly tugged it above his head. Vaas broke his kissing for a moment, tossing his top and Katerina's vest onto the floor – with hunger growing in his eyes. He darted back to her neck, tracing his tongue down to her collarbone, and slowly trailing down her stomach. A groan erupted from Katerina's throat as she harshly raked her fingernails down Vaas' back – brushing her legs up his thigh and playfully coiling them around his back. A small whimper rumbled in Katerina's throat as Vaas began tenderly pecking her stitches, but in the same breath, a vast amount of arousal began to shiver its way up her spine and make her skin tingle. She nibbled impatiently at her bottom lip, snatching the corners of the pillow and twisting it in her fingers. Vaas' lips travelled further down, until his fingers began to unfasten her jeans and slowly wrench it down her legs. Katerina stretched her neck across the mattress, nestling her head into the bed as her grasp on the pillow became tighter.

Vaas chuckled and brushed his head back up her body, the bristles of his facial hair pricked at Katerina's skin. She groaned under her breath, gnawing at her inner cheek as Vaas began to kiss her jawline. Her fingertips clawed down his bicep, and rushed down his chest. Vaas let out another chuckle and quickly seized her wrists, pinning them against her head as he continued to teasingly kiss and nibble at her neck and jaw. He moved Katerina's arms and thrown them over his back, so that her arms tangled around his neck. His lips moved back to her mouth, were his tongue toyed with hers, racing across her teeth and dancing in her mouth. Katerina groaned in Vaas' mouth at the growing bulge that poked at her thigh. Vaas grunted too, keenly unbuttoning his pants and unzipping his fly. Katerina hauled them off of him as Vaas tugged off her lace underwear.

With a grasp of her waist, he hauled himself inside of her with one slow thrust that made a whimpered moan explode from Katerina's lips. Her breath hit his neck, echoing in his ear, as she clutched tightly onto his neck, rocking her body into him with a small movement of her hips. Vaas grunted, swallowing his groans, pulling himself out and thrusting back in again, sending shivers of desire and ecstasy to tremor its way up Katerina's body.

Gasps and moans slipped from Katerina's lips and a muffled grunt or growl glided from Vaas' mouth as each thrust became quicker with added force to each movement of the hips. Vaas' hand tightly coiled around Katerina's leg – hauling it up into the air and holding up against his waist. Katerina clasped harshly onto Vaas' shoulder as she swayed her body rhythmically with his movements, her body screaming as Vaas' hunger increased, in which he would rock his body against hers with more ferocity and speed. Katerina felt as if her body was going to explode, as the pinpoint of pleasure trembled wildly inside of her – ready to erupt, which would undeniably cause pleasured moans and howls to burst from her lips. Katerina buried her head into Vaas' shoulder as he continued to fervently rock into her, with her back arching below him.

But sound that erupted from Katerina's lips was not one from pleasure. An embarrassed squeal rang through the room as she caught glimpse of someone standing beside the door that was beside the television. The door slammed loudly against the wall, and Vaas growled furiously like a wild animal, hauling himself out of Katerina and quickly tugging up his pants.

"Can't you fucking see," Vaas snapped, his voice a dreaded scream from his anger and irritation, "that I am busy?"

Katerina quickly snatched the blanket and used it to conceal herself, clutching onto the corner tightly as she glared at the man in the room. She could feel her face glowing from embarrassment. Never, in a million years, would she had thought that someone would walk in on her doing… that.

"Do you have any fucking idea, how rude that was? Why the fuck are you here hermano? Eh? What the fuck do you want?" Vaas barked, clenching his hand into fist as he stood at the bottom of the bed, with a predatory manor to his stance. "Spit it the fuck out! What the fuck is so fuckin' important?"

"Vaas I'm sorry, and erm…" he turned to look at Katerina, raising his hand in the air, "sorry mam…"

"Don't fucking look at her, look at me."

Katerina studied the man in the doorway, he looked familiar. Where had he seen him?

"Just thought it would be best," the man in the doorway exclaimed, drawing his full attention to Vaas, "to come and tell you that the boss is here. Should I have not told you that?"

"I thought he was going to come up in a couple of days?"

"Well, he's here now Vaas."

"Fuck!"

Vaas collapsed onto the bed, running his hand down his face and raking his fingertips through his Mohawk. Boss? Who, on this world, was the boss of Vaas? No one told Vaas what to do, he was the pirate lord of this island. No one else. Who could possibly be the boss of him?

"No," he grumbled, his tone much more relaxed but quite sombre, "no… thanks. You're right, it was good of you to come and tell me hermano."

With the click of his tongue, Vaas heaved himself to his feet – buttoning up his pants and hauling his top back over his head. He scratched at the bridge of his nose and marched towards the door.

"Carlos…"

Carlos! That was who he was. She remembered him from the first time she got here. What? Was this guy Vaas' right hand man or something?

"Do me a favour," Vaas grunted, "and get that girl some food, yeah? And make sure she eats it, you hear!" He gave him a kind tap to the shoulder and brushed past him. Katerina heard the clatter of his boots rush down a flight of stairs. Where was she?

"Sure thing boss." Carlos replied looking behind him then back towards Katerina. He said nothing, didn't give a smile or any expression, just spun around and rushed down the stairs behind Vaas shutting the door behind him with a loud heavy slam.

_How fucking embarrassing was that?_ Katerina mused, as she harshly ran her palm down her face, _and who the fuck is Vaas so eager to go and see? Who could be the boss of Vaas? How could anybody be the boss of Vaas?_

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**So? What did you all think of this one? Enjoy it? Please let me know with a comment! I love reading them - they're awesome. Thanks for being so great guys! You're all awesome! Love you all! (^.^)**


	23. Just a Toy

**Hello everyone! It's becoming a sort of tradition for me to say something before the chapter starts... I'll just keep with the usual rambles because... I got nothing...(^.^) So hi! I'm back with another chapter for you all. Thank you all so much for the support! Enjoy! ~**

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Katerina jolted as the ringing of a slammed door echoed in the room. Vaas stood in the doorway, his body arched like a sickened man, with his head bowing the floor. He had kicked the door open with such force and ferocity that the wooden door had almost been ripped off from its hinges – a small nudge could now result in the door crumpling to the ground with a daunting loud thud. Katerina, being so startled by the unexpected eruption of a door harshly thumping against the hard walls, stumbled forwards from where she was standing. She was by the foot of the bed, with a bra and pair of jeans covering her body, and when the unnerving vibrations from the loud bang chimed in her eardrums she subconsciously volleyed her foot forwards – sending it to unfortunately crash against the foot of the bed. She let out a sharp roar of pain, bobbing up and down like a doll, as she cursed under her breath, gnawing onto her bottom lip as a growl grumbled at the back of her throat.

"Fuck!" she snapped, shaking her foot in the air, with her shoulders relaxing as the throbbing pain in her toes slowly cooled – like water cooling a hot red flame. She looked across to Vaas, who still examined the floorboards – she could hardly see his face – and gave a pleasant grin as she regained her balance. "I thought it was someone bringing up food. You came back rather quickly, did you forget something?"

He didn't say a word, not a whisper. Another slam from the door made Katerina jump and triggered shivers to scuttle up her Goosebump riven skin. Her golden eyes focused on Vaas, who silently poured himself a drink, shakily tipping the clear alcohol into his square shaped glass. The strong intoxicating scent of liquor burned Katerina's nose and made her dizzy – Vaas didn't seem to mind, knocking back not one or two but three glasses like one would do with a shot.

Katerina continued to glare at him with a cocked eyebrow. Worry grew in her troubled golden eyes, and she parted her lips to speak, watching with dread as Vaas squeezed the glass with his fingers and thumb. "Vaas?" she croaked, rubbing her fingertips across her ice skin that was rough with Goosebumps, "is everything alright?"

A loud gust of breath escaped Vaas' lips as his neck craned upwards so that he glared at the cracks and marks on the ceiling. He sluggishly dropped his glass onto the withered table and roughly ran his hand down his face, stretching his skin as his palm travelled further and further down. Katerina watched the glass roll across the table, with droplets of alcohol seeping from the edges of the glass until it came to a stop when colliding with the wall. It did not then continue to roll to the edge of the table, in which it would crash to the floor, like expected. As Katerina watched it, she was expecting a shrill smash of shattering shards of glass spurting across the floorboards to fill the room. But that never happened – to her surprise.

"Sit down." Vaas ordered. There was no tone to his voice – no rhythm or character to his words. In fact, a solemn coldness flooded his words, enriched with a low timbre which, to Katerina, sounded like a quality for sadness or disappointment.

"I don't want to." Katerina calmly protested, with her wandering eyes carefully analysing the expression that swamped Vaas' face. His eyebrows arched solemnly over his empty tired eyes that refused to glimpse at Katerina. His face was like stone. It didn't not move or change. It appeared as if there wasn't even a person inside Vaas' body – it was too still, and too vague. "Vaas? Tell me what's wrong." Katerina pleaded, taking one stride closer to Vaas with her confused eyes locked on his face that continued to puzzle her.

"Put your top on."

Katerina glanced over to the vest top that had been tossed on the bottom of the bed. She was about to put it on before Vaas made his unexpected entrance. She had forgotten that she was prancing about in her bra. She obeyed, hauling the top over her head and quickly poking her arms through. Still, her eyes stayed on Vaas. What was the matter? What was going on?

"There's probably shoes in the case," Vaas exclaimed, still in that robotic, grave tone that worried and even frightened Katerina. She wasn't used to that tone. It startled her. It wasn't right for that sound to slip from Vaas' tongue. "Get them out," he continued, scratching the bridge of his nose and glaring at his shoes, "and put them on. Now."

Again she obeyed. Struggling to find the right words to project. Perhaps it was best to stay as silent as a mouse, following orders with no question, and executing the orders with haste. Racing her tongue across her dessert dry lips, Katerina quickly unzipped the sky blue suitcase and rummaged through the clothes, digging to the bottom – determined to locate some shoes; holding onto the chance that they would be her size. Her hand trembled with a restlessness that she didn't realise was bubbling up inside of her, creating butterflies to flutter in her stomach – making her nauseous. She bit onto her lip, blinking her eyes and yanking out a pair of shoes from the packed suitcase overflowing with a ridiculous amount of clothes. She held them up beside her head, examining the black and white pumps that dangled from her fingers. To her relief, they were her size, in which she swiftly slipped the shoes on, before jumping to her feet and turning to glare at Vaas with her arms tightly folded across her chest – still her hands continued to quake. The room even now seemed to carry a slight chill that wickedly nipped at Katerina's exposed skin with icy teeth, causing more ghastly shivers to tremor up her body.

"There's been a change of plan," Vaas sighed, still glaring at the floorboards as he rubbed his palm across the back of his neck that was damp with a warm, salty and clammy fluid that annoyed him. He still did not look at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Vaas stopped his sentence and released a heavy sigh from his lungs that exploded through the small gap in between his lips. At last he lifted his head, and peered at Katerina, who glared back at him with a dreaded disquiet growing in her fretful eyes. "You won't be staying here any longer."

"Well then where are we going?"

Vaas looked away from her again, grunting out a gust of breath as he ran his hand across his neck and up his jaw, with the bristles of his rough black facial hair scratching at his skin. He grinded his teeth and craned his neck to once again lock his stone eyes on Katerina's radiant face. "There's no we. You're going alone, and I'm not coming with you."

Those words were like a dagger piercing her chest. Katerina didn't expect the pain that suddenly flushed across her body, and that horrid sting pricked at her glassy eyes as she shook her head, with her lip trembling. She opened her mouth to speak, but a lump in her throat made her choke, and only air escaped her quaking lips. Shook her head again, blinking vigorously as she stuttered on her whimpered protests of confusion. "W…w…what? What do you mean? W…w…wha…I don't under… I don't understand…what are you saying? W…what…"

"You going to be sold, just like you should have weeks ago…"

"S..s…sold!" Katerina blurted out – her voice high and fretful. The whimpers that seeped from her lips made her throat burn like a roaring fire. She couldn't understand what he was saying. Surely he didn't mean this. Why would he do this? What had she done wrong?

"You have to come now. I would prefer if you came with a fuss."

"You're joking. You…" Katerina snorted, with a snivelled laugh sparking at the back of her throat. The familiar wet sensation of crystal tears began to trickle down Katerina's skin, hitting her flesh with an explosion of coldness that made her shudder. "You can't be serious. Please tell me you're joking!"

"It's already been arranged, there's no backing out of it." The stillness and coldness of his voice was like a machine, and it sickened her, sending an aching pain to wrench at her chest. She couldn't believe what was happening. The words that dripped from his mouth were like venom, deadly and agonising. How was this happening?

"Arranged?" Katerina's voice now grew sharp, though the pain and torment still flooded her trembling body, a new emotion began to boil up inside of her. Anger. Why would he do this? How could he be this cruel? How could he be this cold? "Look." She began, raising her finger at Vaas, whose expression hadn't changed. He glared at Katerina blankly, with the same face he had when he stepped out of the doorway. He wasn't even holding his body straight. With a whine still rumbling at the back of Katerina's throat, she began to bark at Vaas, though her sadness consumed her, making her words more of a wail. "Why don't you go and tell whoever wants to buy me, the pig who has begun this _arrangement_, to go and fuck himself, because I'm not going anywhere!" Her lip trembled, but she tried her best to ignore it, sucking her teeth and protesting with all her might. "I'm not leaving!"

"You're meant to do as I say."

"The last time I went off with a stranger, I almost died. And now, now you're allowing someone to just take me away! Do you want me to die? Because whatever prick is coming to collect me, will sure enough kill me, that's if I don't kill myself first."

"This is not a fuckin' negotiation Kat!" Fire grew in his dark eyes, as he projected his harsh words as a roar. The anger was not the same anger that she had heard before. Katerina didn't know what it was, but still, it frightened her. The way his veins pulsated angrily against his coarse skin, and the way he marched over to her with a fearsome predatory manner. The whole nature of him sent shivers up her skin. "You are going!" He barked, with a horrid hostility shaking in his voice. "You are going, even if I have to drag you out there myself! And I will do it! Don't fucking think that I won't!"

"Am I toy?" Anger grew in her voice, grumbling like a growl from a dog, even if tear droplets still trickled down her skin. "Something to use and then throw away when bored? Is that what I am?"

"Yes! You are! So now, I'm giving you up!"

"And how long do you think I will last? Looking like this? I can barely stand without someone knocking me back a pill!"

"That's not my problem anymore, and wounds mend."

"How much are you getting? Go on tell me, how much am I worth to you?"

"I'm not speaking of this for any longer."

"And why the fuck did you go through all the trouble to keep me alive? How much did the doctor cost Vaas? How many men did you lose coming to that camp or whatever the fuck I was in? How much…"

The words could no longer leave Katerina's lips. A heavy force rammed against her mouth, with a harsher force shoving her towards the wall. Vaas seized Katerina's hips and hauled them to him whilst burying his lips into Katerina's lips, with one rapid movement that was too quick to react to. The coldness that nipped at Katerina's skin, flushed away as soon as Vaas touched her. As he rammed her backwards, pushing his tongue into her mouth, squeezing his eyes shut as he embraced her body, Katerina flung her arms into the air – sealing her eyes shut and gasping in Vaas' mouth as she stumbled backwards. Vaas cupped Katerina's face with his hand, brushing the droplets of tears away from her skin as he ravished her with deep sensual kisses that melted her. She moaned in his mouth as he raked his fingertips through her hair, and he grunted, hardly pulling his face away from her lips.

But her eyes soon sprang open, and she quickly pulled away, shoving Vaas' body away from her with a whimpered growl. "No Vaas!" she snapped, pushing him with a blow to the shoulder blade. Vaas glared at her, doing nothing to protest. Katerina felt her body falling and grimaced to the burn of tears that swelled in her eyes. "No," she dolefully repeated, slowly collapsing to the floor with her back sliding against the wall.

She heard the clatter of thuds echoing from Vaas' boots, then the ringing of a creaking door being swung ajar. When she peered up, her face wet from her tears, she saw Vaas standing in the doorway, clicking his head to the door.

"Come on," Vaas grunted, pointing to the door as he glumly glared at Katerina, "get the fuck up. You're leaving."

"This will be the death of me," Katerina croaked, curled up on the floor, twiddling her thumbs as she stared at the floorboards with a daunting emptiness in her shiny wet eyes. She continued, peering up to glare at Vaas with a scowl as tears brimmed her eyelashes, "and you're allowing it to happen."

"Get up."

"And now you're trying to convince yourself that you don't feel the slightest ounce of sadness, or remorse."

"Get up."

"And you know, this is it for me. And you're lying to yourself, pretending as if I'm some girl you've known for not even a day. Someone you don't give a fuck about! Someone who you would drive a bullet through without blinking an eye. Someone you could dispose of with a snap of your finger…"

Vaas was beside her before she could finish and the horrid slam of the door seemed to echo in the cold room after Vaas had marched away from it. With rage boiling in his face, he snatched Katerina's arm and roughly tugged her to her feet. A small yelp erupted from Katerina's lips as she fretful peered up at him – the tears that swelled in her eyes made her vision slightly blurry and foggy, like a washed out painting in a gallery.

"Now you listen carefully!" Vaas spat, his enmity triggering fear to latch onto Katerina's body - fear and anguish. "I don't give a flying fuck about you! I can easily find another whore to fuck, and then get rid of that one when I want, just as I am doing to you. You're no different to any other bitch, and I don't give a fuck, if your new owner, beats you half to death, raping you every hour and then gutting you when he's bored. I don't give a fuck if you're tossed from man to man like a toy for them to ruin. I don't give a fuck! So you fuckin' can stop your whining, because soon enough, you will have bigger and more beastly things to cry about! Now fuckin' move!"

Katerina shook her shoulders, stepping away from the wicked pirate that dripped with the venom of a monsters cruelty and malice. She grinded her teeth together and wiped away the tears that clung to her skin. "Fuck you!" she hissed, crinkling her nose and clenching her hands into fists as she tramped away from him. She waited by the door, glaring at the floor and biting onto her tongue as she waited for Vaas to barge past her.

He shoved past her like a wild gust of wind, causing her hair to flutter and flick out in all directions. With her arms tightly folded across her chest, she dragged her feet across the floorboards, sluggishly following Vaas' slow callous footsteps with her glassy eyes glued to the ground. She gave a snarl when a quiet snivelled whimper spurted from her lips. Vaas glanced back behind his shoulder, but Katerina did not look up, instead she gritted her teeth together and roughly wiped her hand across her face, snapping off any tears that were still hanging on her skin.

She never looked up. Never laid eyes on the pirate that she glumly followed. She didn't look up when trudging through the daunting dark corridor with no windows. In the dark, she shivered to the repulsive odour that simmered up her nostrils. The peeling walls reeked of a sticky, musky damp smell that made Katerina's skin crawl and her nose shrivel like a ball of scrunched paper. As she travelled further into the dark abyss, she detected the sickly scent of salt, mixed with the suffocating fragrance of alcohol and the smothering fumes of marijuana. That was when the white light hit her, blinding her pupils when she peered ahead, creating that almighty sting to burn at her eyes, in which she shrouded her eyes with a raised arm and quickly squinted her eyelids. Men gawked at her, lowering the bottles from their mouths and loosening their grasp on the weapons they were cleaning with a grey rag. At first, she did not fear them – she knew that they wouldn't, and couldn't touch her. Unlike what Katerina expected, Vaas said nothing to the men that goggled at her and wolf whistled like wild animals. Normally Vaas would yell and bark at anyone who lay eyes on her, driving a horrid fear to swarm in their bodies like a deadly disease. Suddenly the fear began to scamper up Katerina's body as she scanned around, fretfully glimpsing at the hungry pirates who eyed her with malice burning like a flame in their desirous predator eyes. She had lost herself for a moment, believing that she was safe with Vaas around, believing that Vaas would protect her. No. He was giving her away, tossing her to the street like a dog. He didn't care anymore – she wasn't his problem. So, he did nothing, but walk. Still his body was hunched. Still his muscles tense. Still his eyes blank and his mouth barred. There wasn't going to be a peep out of this pirate. Katerina released a gust of saddened breath that she didn't know she holding, and glared at the her shoes, studying the white laces and black fabric – trying to block out the whistling and evil, spine-chilling remarks that were viciously passed from pirate from pirate. Their callous words made the hairs on her body stand up. A wicked chill nipped at her body as she stumbled through the ravenous crowd, and her body trembled. Soon she found herself close to Vaas once again, too close. Her body knocked into his back, with her arms brushing against the red top he wore. He stopped and all the men glared at them, biting onto their tongue as Vaas slowly twisted his neck to look at Katerina.

She looked up at him for a moment, fighting the sting that lanced at her pupils. _Don't cry, don't you dare._ Katerina told herself over and over again in her thoughts, as she uneasily peered up at Vaas, who looked down on her as if she was prey ready to slaughter. Her eyes finally drifted away, with the corners of her mouth screwing into a small frown. She jumped, yelping soundlessly as Vaas suddenly and roughly clasped onto the back of her neck with a rough callous hand. What was he doing?

"How about," he hissed, arching his neck so that his words were a whisper for only her to hear. Even though the nature of his voice, was a low growl that made a sickly ounce of trepidation dwell in her gut, yanking at ripping at her muscles and making her whole body and skin shudder and crawl with terror. The hiss was different, not as hostile or bitter, as if it had been forced. "You go in front, eh? And perhaps you will walk a bit fuckin' quicker!"

With his fingers still tightly swathed around her neck, he shoved Katerina forwards, in which she shakily stumbled on her feet as she treaded each trembling foot in front of her. Her breathing became heavy as Vaas directed her outside. She thought she was going to pass out – collapse and crumble into a pile of mush.

In front of her was a line of men. Most of them were suited up in black and yellow combat armour, and they carried heavy daunting ebony rifles in their big calloused hands. One man stood in front of them, holding a thick cigar between his lips, that oozed a sickly suffocating smell that made Katerina cough as Vaas pushed her towards them. Unlike the men surrounding him, his choice of clothing was more… formal. Slipped over his torso, was an affluent black blazer and a red shirt, unbuttoned to his chest so that a few chest hairs were visible. Katerina took a glimpse of him a shivered, digging her shoes into the mud that fluttered onto her shoes like sand. His black boots had been shiny and polished, but now dustings of dry mud were speckled on the leather surface. His jeans looked new, but were shrivelled at the bottom, creating minor marks on the dark fabric – though, the untidiness of the man's pants was probably down to the jungle environment he was in; he didn't seem to like it here much. Perhaps it was the stifling heat, or the clammy, moist air that smelt of earth from the rich dark soil. Maybe the only smell he found pleasant was the minor whiff of mint that fluttered in the air, making the jungle air fresh, like the air after a heavy rainstorm. Or perhaps he had set his cigar ablaze so that the only aroma that would simmer up his nose, would be the sickly smoke that drifted from the ruffles of paper in his lips, which he oddly found saccharine and pleasant, unlike Katrina.

Katrina studied the man some more, examining his face that scanned her as if she was something to invest, or a house for him to purchase – again it made shivers shoot up Katerina's skin. His rugged face was un-nerving, and his skin was coarse and tanned –darker than Vaas' skin. His pale emerald eyes were tired looking, and beneath them his skin was red, and dark. His face was clean shaven and his daunting, black hair was short and neatly brushed back, so that only two strands of hair hung to his crinkled forehead. He wasn't old, but he wasn't young either – a man most likely in his late forties or early fifties. He stood with pride and authority, throwing back his shoulders and stretching his back.

"I thought you wasn't going to come back Vaas." the man in the blazer chuckled, tugging the cigar from his lips and chucking it to the floor – the grass around began to wither, shrivelling like leaves dying in winter, and the lush colour faded from the strands. The man's voice was hoarse, and nerve-wrecking. A tone that was supposed to be jolly, spurted from his lips as a fearful hiss that rumbled with a bitter fury that he failed to conceal. He spoke with a deep African accent, and gave an uneasy grin as he chuckled, clasping his hands together and rubbing his palms against each other. Katerina peered up to Vaas, only moving her eyes so that it wasn't too obvious. She clung on to the hope that Vaas would suddenly change his mind – tell this man to fuck off and then scoop Katerina up in his arms and take her away from him. That hope was a child's wish. He didn't even look down to her. He didn't look down to see the fear that devoured the glow in her eyes. Instead he gave a firm push, and threw her towards the man in front of her – the man she was desperate to stay away from. A squeal exploded from Katerina's trembling lips as one man, locked in his daunting combat armour, roughly detained her arms and trapped her in a cold, harsh embrace, with his fingertips digging into her skin.

"Hoyt. Can I go? You don't need me now, do you?" Vaas hissed, already dragging his feet across the mud so that he was further and further away. His eyes locked onto the grass, and his back arched as he stood waiting for the answer he requested.

The man (formally known as Hoyt) that stood beside Katerina laughed, snatching Katerina from the guard that held her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Katerina trembled to the touch of him. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, hoping that this was just a nightmare that she would eventually wake from. His calloused hand reached up for her hair, were he snatched a curtain of it with cruelty and humour in his touch. Katerina squawked, tensing her body and sealing her eyes shut, to prevent cold tears to stream down her face. Vaas looked up with an emptiness in his eyes, glaring at the man that held her. His jaw was tense, as if he was grinding his teeth as he gazed at Hoyt.

"You don't like being told what to do, do you?" Hoyt chuckled, a grave hostility subconsciously grumbling in his throat. He bawled out a sharp laughter, which made Katerina jump and shudder. He detected this and craned his neck to glimpse at her, reaching up his hand and petting her onto the head. Katerina whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and clenching her hands into fists, shifting her body away as his fingertips collided with the top of her skull. He released a gust of breath, and chuckled again, squeezing Katerina's body with his arm. "I think I'll be off instead." He declared, sighing as he projected his slow words. "The jungle is irritating. It's very, very hard for me not to want to burn this entire place to a crisp… very hard."

Hoyt turned his attention to Katerina, who trembled in his arms. "Do you like the jungle my love?" he asked her, with a jolly tone to his hoarse voice. Vaas only watched, occasionally glancing to the floor as Katerina quivered in the man's arms. "Did you not teach this one to fucking answer when spoken to?" Hoyt barked, a terrifying hostile growl shaking in his voice. His words were sharp and bitter; it made Katerina nervous. How could she answer to that? Now having a dreaded lump stuck in her throat from the fear that flooded her body.

"I'm leaving." Vaas bitterly barked, pushing one of his men to the floor as he barged past him. Katerina watched him as he marched away. Another pirate was so unfornature to get in his way, and he wasn't quick enough to dodge him. Vaas shot him and headed back in the hut that he had dragged Katerina out of.

"I'll tell you when we find snow white!" Hoyt hollered after him, finishing his sentence with a howl of laughter that coldly echoed in the air. It seemed as if the whole world was shaking from his startling malicious snicker that made Katerina's heart burst out from her chest. "He has a temper doesn't he, eh?" Hoyt whispered into Katerina's ear, but then his mood changed, transforming into a fearful hiss that caused tears to brim Katerina's fluttering eyelashes. "But be warned," he hissed, with his venomous cold breath hitting Katerina's skin, making her shudder once again. "I can be just like that, when you get on my bad side, maybe even worse if you really fucking piss me off. And I am an expert of driving fear into the hearts of people, especially the more impressionable ones… like women, just like you. So I am giving you my warning now, if you piss me off and get on my bad side, you will soon find out the consequences, and the consequences I give, are not worth any risk. People barely withstand my punishments, most don't even survive… which means everyone does as they're told. For now, you are my merchandise. You are my personal product. So, you best be on your best behaviour dear, because you should know, I am the Armageddon. No one, crosses me and lives to tell the tale. Remember that. Forget it, and it will cost you your life."

* * *

**o.O Looks like the dreaded Hoyt Volker has come into the picture... What did you think of this one? Please leave a comment and tell me! You all awesome for supporting me with this. Thank you so much! x**


	24. Agony

When Vaas left, so did Hoyt and his four guards dressed in yellow – dragging Katerina with them, who stumbled anxiously on her feet whenever she treaded her shoes across the hard soil. She whimpered soundlessly to herself, bowing her head to her chest as one heavy handed guarded lugged her behind him, clutching harshly onto her shoulder, with his fingernails clawing into her skin. Katerina was certain that this man was creating bruises on her skin, and grinded her teeth at the aching pain to her flesh. The stifling hot tropical air was almost too much to bare. The dense hot air made it difficult to breath, and caused warm sticky, salty sweat that repulsed her, to gather on her brow and trickle down her spine, clinging onto the back of her neck like an illness. Katerina let slip a dry cough as she followed the men that took her away, trudging up a steep hill, digging her shoes into the road made of dry mud and small stones. She shut her eyes that were damp from tears for a moment, running her tongue across her chapped desert dry lips, and when she opened them she released a puff of breath that she had been holding in her lungs for quite some time. A small whimper rumbled at the back of her throat, with her eyes swelling with tears that stung her pupils. She shook her head, and bit onto her tongue, and she grimaced, squeezing her eyelids shut and scrunching up her face as she was certain that she drew blood. _Breathe Kat, breath_, Katerina told herself, studying the speckles of mud sprinkled on her shoes and focusing on her breathing._ In and out Kat, in and… oh fuck!_ _Fuck! Where are they taking me? Fuck! I don't want this to happen. I don't want this to happen. I can't… Fuck!_

"Hey! Stop your fucking whining bitch!" the guard clutching onto her barked, his voice shaking with a vicious hostility as he sadistically shook her like a doll. She didn't realise that she had been crying. Her face was wet, with wet droplets dripping from her jaw, and her eyes burned from the pricking of tears that continued to swell in her stinging eyes. She snivelled, choking on the sobs she swallowed.

"W…where are you taking me?" Katerina blubbered, snivelling as she spoke with her voice crackled from her previous snuffles. Her throat burned when she spoke, and even a droplet of saliva made her wince, flushing down her throat like scorching red hot lava, callously burning and scratching at her skin as it slowly trickled down her throat. The men gave no reply – they kept on walking, picking up the pace and ruthlessly towing Katerina behind them. "Hey," Katerina hollered, confidence and adrenaline bubbling up inside of her, but still she sniffled under her breath, "I asked you…"

Before she could answer, the guard that seized her released his grasp and swung around, his movements as quick as light. Katerina didn't even get a chance to peer up, when the robust bulky man, whose face bore a thick beard alone his square shaped jaw, swung his arm towards her. The back of his callous heavy hand clouted Katerina's cheek with such force and ferocity, that Katerina's body toppled to the floor, smashing against the ground with a loud thud that echoed through the towering trees – trees that arched like old men, but bearing crisp green leaves that bloomed like petals from a pretty young flower. Katerina only let out a muffled moan as she buried her face in the dirt. Her reddened cheek throbbed and stung like the callous chill of ice that bites your flesh, scratching at your skin as if it had shards of razor ice teeth. Despite the pain that she bore, Katerina barred her mouth shut and held back the tears, pushing her arms onto the floor so that she could lift up her body. The blow seemed to shake the tears out from her. She didn't want to cry anymore. She wanted, and had to be strong. She would no longer project her fear. She would not make that mistake.

"Hey!" an angered voice barked, with a high African twang to the words. Hoyt. Katerina coughed into the ground, spitting out sprinkles of dry mud that clung to her tongue. The men seemed distracted, so she reached out her arm and twisted her fingers around what seemed to be an arrow shard poking out from a pile of orange crisp leaves. She curled the sharp metal in fingers, cleverly hiding it in her fingers as Hoyt continued to speak. "Be gentle will the product will you? Fuck's sake man, we haven't even got to the copter yet, you fucking soft twat."

Katerina raised an eyebrow as she wiped away the dusting of mud that stuck to her tender red skin with the edge of her hand._ Copter? As in, a Helicopter? Why do we need a helicopter? Is the destination that far away?_ Katerina mused, lifting herself to her feet and crossing her arms, giving the man that struck her a piercing glance before she drew her attention to the floor.

"Hey! Did you fucking see that?" the wicked man that socked Katerina spat, waving his finger at her as he looked around to the other men, then to Hoyt.

Hoyt seemed unamused, and dramatically blew out a long gust of breath, kicking his boot across the mud so that sprinkles of dirt fluttered up into the air, and twisted his body around to face the man. "What?" he sharply replied, with his pale eyes analysing the angered guard's face, with the corners of his mouth slowly dropping to an unamused scowl.

"The bitch gave me a look!" the guard hissed and snapped his head to glare at her, she herself, was unamused and peered up to look at him with a blank expression drawn across her face. The guard gritted his teeth and hissed through the small gaps, with droplets of spit shooting out from his gums, "she thinks she so fucking clever! Who does she think she is? You know…" The guard hissed like an annoyed reptile confined in a cage and stepped towards Katerina, with his heavy boots stomping in the mud like the foot of an elephant. His hand reached out, in which he snatched Katerina's throat, coiling his coarse, hot fingers around the soft velvet skin of her neck. Katerina choked, clenching her hands into fists beside her hips as she glared into the dark eyes of the angered guard that growled like a wild beast through his teeth that he grinded together. "I could just wring her scrawny little neck!" he barked, jolting her head in his fist.

"Fucking drop her!" Hoyt snapped – he had an odd humour to his voice, though the manner of his speech was still hostile and intimidating, just how he probably wanted it to be perceived. "Fuckin' hell I need the girl alive you stupid fuck! Give her to me!"

The guard gave scowl and dropped Katerina, unscrewing his claws and ripping them from her skin. Katerina arched her neck and coughed, rubbing her fingertips across her neck that now burned and stung. She was positive that if she was to gawk in a mirror there would be claw marks on her throat. Her body jerked when Hoyt suddenly appeared behind her, slapping Katerina on the back as she continued to tenderly stroke her skin, easing the burning that coiled itself around her flesh. With a chuckle grumbling in his voice, he seized Katerina by the arm and dragged her behind of him. He lugged her to the front of the huddle, with all the guards trailing behind.

It didn't take much longer for Hoyt, his men and Katerina, to reach the grand black Helicopter that had been planted a good few yards away. It was in an open space, with no tall arching trees or wild tousled bushes around and it was not far away from the thick rocky road that stretched forever into the horizon. _Why hadn't they planted the big machine closer? We had past plenty of huge open spaces. It couldn't been a hell lot easier if it was closer._ Katerina mused as she glared at it. But to Katerina's surprise, her thoughts projected into words, and spurted out from her lips. "Couldn't you have parked the thing a bit closer?" she snorted, her eyes widening once she realised that those words actually came from her mouth. She heard the ringing of a deep cackle echoing from Hoyts lips, and muffled murmurs from the guards. Katerina kept her head high, acting as if she was meant to say those words. She would not cower.

"What the fuck did she say?" the guard from before spat. She could feel the heat radiating off of his skin on her back. It send shivers up her spine, giving her a horrid chill.

"Relax you will you? No harm done." Hoyt snickered,

He never answered her question, but instead waved his finger to the Helicopter, still clutching onto Katerina. Katerina looked behind her shoulder, glumly glaring down the road as one guards followed Hoyt's orders, and lobbed his robust body into the Helicopter, with his gun clashing against the metal surface with a loud chime that rang in Katerina's eardrums. The man got in the front of the flying machine, and began messing with the controls.

A muffled growl and the clatter of hysterical brash chirping sprang from the jungle, behind the Helicopter. All the men shifted their bodies around and studied the cluster of trees and bushes. A swarm of birds rapidly zoomed out from their trees, frantically soaring in the air whilst squawking at one another as they quickly flapped their large wings with the rough breeze. The guards looked back to Hoyt, who stood staring, still clutching onto Katerina.

"Go and check it out." Hoyt ordered, waving his hand to the direction of the jungle. "If you see any of them fucking savages gut them." The men nodded and shook their guns in their hands as they trudged through the sand. The man in the Helicopter also vaulted out and scurried after the men that trotted towards the jungle. "If you see any girls bring them back!" Hoyt hollered with wicked laughter, the guards bellowed out their laughter too, nodding their heads in approval. Katerina shuddered and grimaced, looking away and examining the other side of the area they were in. "But don't be too fucking long!" he ordered as they disappeared in the jungle.

Hoyt let Katerina free of his grasp, hissing "don't you fucking dare run off." He stepped away and tugged out a cigar and lighter from his pocket. Setting the cigar a light he brought it to his lips and took a long drag as he examined the jungle that his men had scampered into, with Katerina standing behind him. She twisted the arrow shard in her fingertips, glaring at the man who stood in front of her, puffing on his cigar and blowing out a gust of grey smoke that carried a ghastly sickening smell to it.

With a spring to her feet, Katerina jolted her body in the air, lobbing her wrist to Hoyt's neck with a growl seeping from her gritted teeth. Hoyt turned around, the cigar slipping from his lips. His hand raced down to his waist, where he went to reach for his pistol but by this time Katerina had already plunged her shard into the bastard's neck. Hoyt let out a furiously growl, followed by a grunt as he tugged the shard out from his neck. Blood oozed from his flesh, even when Hoyt pressed his hand against it, the blood continued to trickle down his chest and now down his hand too. Two guards came racing towards him, with dusting of dry mud bursting in the air from the impact of their heavy feet smashing into the ground.

"Boss! Boss! What happened?" one guard hollered as he rushed towards him. Hoyt stumbled over to him, blood know dripping from his elbow and bleeding into the river of green grass.

"That fucking bitch! That's what happened!" Hoyt grunted, shoving the guard to the floor when he held up a bandage and small bottle of alcohol. With haste he tossed the alcohol onto his neck, so that it splashed onto his wound. His hissed through his gritted teeth and quickly pressed pad onto it, keeping it secure by swathing plenty of bandage around his neck. "Where the fuck did she go?" he hissed, knocking back the remaining droplets of alcohol and wincing as he reached up to prod at his neck.

"I'll go and gut her for you, boss!"

"No!" Hoyt barked, rummaging around his belt for his pistol. "The fucking whore took my pistol. That conniving fucking…. Give me your fucking gun!"

Hoyt irritably held out his hand, giving the guard in front of him a deadly piercing glance that was growing with impatience. The guard nodded and gingerly dropped the gun in Hoyt's hand. With a dreaded growl Hoyt marched towards the jungle, viciously tugging back the hammer of the loaded weapon and muttering to himself with a growing hiss to his words, "I'll fucking bring her back myself."

The scrawny sharp arms of wild trees stretched out their withering pale arms, callously clawing at Katerina's skin as she rushed past them, panting and squealing through her clenched teeth as she quickly rushed through the maze of jungle shrubs and trees. She refused to glimpse behind her shoulder as she ran, and she refused to stop her feet from quickly scuffing against the ground as she sprinted deeper into the jungle – tightly coiling her fingers around the handle of the gun that she held securely in her hand. She could feel her heart thumping wildly against her ribcage. She had to stop.

Gasping, and with her hearting beating with a deadly speed, Katerina hastily lunged her body behind a towering thick tree that was wide enough to conceal her body, panting and wheezing like a sick animal as she tried to control her ragged breath. She winced, cupping her stomach, were a sharp sting lanced at her wound. Her back arched, with her head hanging beside her stomach and her hands resting on her knees. A muffled whine seeped from her lips, and a single shimmering tear trickled down her cheek, which glowed red from receiving a horrid blow before. She lifted up her free arm and smeared the tear across her skin, sniffling as she straightened her back and shakily tugged the hammer of the gun towards her chest. She took in her breath slowly, resting the back of her head against the rough textured bark of the tree that smelt earthy and felt damp to touch.

Katerina looked ahead to see that she was near the bank of a small river, that flowed around the rocks and gently crashed against the rock and mud wall. It seemed to glimmer, like twinkling lights, even with the small amount of sunlight that burst through the arms and heads of trees. But when she analysed it even more, her eyes widened, with her breath ceasing and freezing in her lungs. A fearsome grand beast, with glowing orange eyes piercing into Katerina's skull, slunk its long huge body across the river. Its razor claws, scratched against the rocks and sparked with a flash of white light. The beast was wary not to let a single droplet of water catch its stunning orange and black fur. Katerina had never seen a tiger up close. It was beautiful, and awful terrifying. Keeping her eyes locked on the tiger that slowly treaded its paws closer to Katerina, with a low growl grumbling in its un-nerving large jaw that could crush a human skull with ease, Katerina began to cautiously and slowly move away from the beast – keeping her finger on the trigger, but pointing to the gun to ground not wanting to antagonize the beast that could lunge any moment.

It seemed to growl more furiously as she moved further away. Perhaps if she spoke it would calm the beast. "Easy, easy," she soothed, still treading backwards, with the hand that clutched onto the gun trembling. What was she doing? This was insane. "Easy now. I'm not going to hurt you. Easy." The tiger let out a louder growl, curling its mouth to show its alarming long pointed teeth. Shivers scuttled up Katerina's skin as she carefully picked up her speed.

Both Katerina and the beast jolted to the loud explosion of a gunshot, and Katerina jerked to the side as bark from the tree she was standing beside sprung up into the air, with splinters scratching against her cheek. The tiger released a trembling loud roar, stretching its neck into the air as it opened its jaw wide, with the white sunlight bouncing of its razor teeth. _Time to go!_ Katerina told herself, quickly spinning her body around and dashing through the trees, in the direction of where she just came.

The gunshots and the roaring beast followed her back to Helicopter, the breeze collided against Katerina's skin and made her vision fuzzy. She heard the clatter of screams and gunshots as she continued to sprint, with her ragged breath making her dizzy. _Keep going!_ She thought over and over again in her mind, with her feet still racing across the ground. _Don't stop. Don't stop._

She heard the echo of a whine, and twisted her neck and body, still racing away, looking back to see two guards poking at the carcass of the dead animal. It actually saddened Katerina to look at it. The poor creature. Her eyes drifted to the other carcass that was lobbed in the ground, flooded with blood and with its neck twisted in a way that was unnatural and wrong. It was a guard. Katerina felt her stomach sink as the two other guards glared at her, lifting their guns to point at her, with a horrid bitterness growing in their dark squinting eyes. With a dreaded gasp erupting from her lips Katerina spun round, but was greeted with the side of a daunting ebony rifle. It clashed against her head, and with that she stumbled backwards and toppled to the ground. Everything around her quickly started to turn black like the night sky. Katerina blinked frantically, trying to see in her blurry vision that was shrouded with crystal tears that stung her pupils. A hazy figure stood above her, craning its neck to glare at her as she collapsed into a state of unconsciousness.

"Now listen carefully," a voice echoed in Katerina's eardrums. To her, the voice sounded slurred and deep, and each word seemed to tremor and echo like chimes clashing together in the breeze. She slowly swung her head side to side, blinking and breathing heavily as she glared at the ground that she couldn't see. She craned her neck and glance up, but her vision was blurry, as if a thick grey fog had surrounded her and locked her in a deadly heartless embrace. She knew she was sitting down, as her body was in that position, but where she was she did not know. She just hoped that this was just a dream. Katerina went to move her arms, put something wickedly hauled her back down, burning and clawing at her wrists and pinning them to the arm of the chair whenever she tried to move. She glanced down to see sandpaper knots of rope tightly coiled around both the wooden chair and her wrists – if the maiming knots were any tighter, Katerina was certain that it would cut off the circulation to her hand. Her ankles were tied with the same sandpaper rope that viciously burrowed into her skin. She couldn't move from here. "Are you listening?" the same voice hissed. It sounded familiar to Katerina. She blinked vigorously, squeezing her eyes shut and springing them open again, but still her vision was hazy and blurred. She tried to listen out for anything, but the only echo that wandered to Katerina's ears was the sound of her own loud gusts of breath, that shuddered with nerves.

"I'm going to ask you a series of questions." The same hostile voice barked. At last her vision became clearer. Gasping, and puffing out shaken breath, Katerina scanned around her. It was so dark in here, all light shined only on her, from the dim dusty light bulb dangling from the ceiling. It smelt sickly in here. The repulsive scent of dampness flooded her nose. It was musky, and thick like smoke. Too long in here and she would surely suffocate from the sickening smell. The figure that spoke to her trailed around her, now coming in direct view of her eyes. His shoes clashed against the, what appeared to be, cold stone ground, and rang through the room, giving Katerina the familiar dreaded shudders and concerns. It was Hoyt. He eyed her like an evil monster, and gritted his teeth as he lobbed his body in the stool in front of her. Katerina fidgeted awkwardly in the seat she was tied to, twisting her body and neck and digging her fingernails into her palms as she glared back at the man in front of her. "You are going to answer them truthfully." He continued, with a terrifying humorous nature to his words, resting his arm on a table beside him. The room was shrouded in darkness, and Katerina's vision had not yet become one-hundred percent normal – she could not detect what was mounted on it. "You should know that I have been doing this sort of work for a long while, and I'm quite good at it. So, I don't take any bullshit. So do not go lying to me."

With a slap of his thigh, he sprung up to his feet, snatching something off the table which rang like the clashing of cold metal when it scratched across the wooden surface. Katerina winced and squinted her eyes, leaning her body into the chair as he moseyed over to her, with a frightening skip to his step. "Now normally," he began, stroking the cold metal of his knife across Katerina's cheek, "it takes about an hour for a man to confess everything to me, and by that time he will be blubbering and wailing and crumpling into a ball of mess. I'll remind you that was a man. My guess is that it will take half the time for you to confess, which will be quite disappointing for me if I'm honest. But, let us just see, how long it will take for you to break and crack like a rotten dump horse being whipped again and again until its bone can be seen through its flesh. And once you're broken… well…"

Hoyt's hand slipped down to Katerina's collarbone, where his knife pierced the skin from her collarbone to the bottom of her shoulder. Katerina let out a squeal, digging her fingers in the wood of the chair and squeezing her eyes shut that already began to swell with tears. He continued to wickedly scratch away at her skin, with Katerina wailing through her clenched teeth, with her shoes stamping into the ground. When he moved his hand away Katerina released a gust of breath, and whimpered with her lips barred together. She shivered to the warm sensation of blood trickling down her stomach and waist, and chewed onto her tongue as the pain in her shoulder blade began to burn and claw at her with an agonising pain. "I wonder," Hoyt sharply snapped, with an insane jolly manor bouncing in his voice, "if the other knife will be better. It has jagged edges you see. Do you mind telling me which is more painful?" With the other knife in hand Hoyt began clawing the knife down Katerina's arm. She shrieked and bowed her head to her chest with her knees shaking chaotically. "Yep, I think this one works better. Do you think so?"

Katerina said nothing but clench her lips together, breathing deeply through her nose with tears streaming down her face and brimming her eyelashes.

"So," Hoyt snapped, tossing the knife on the stool and instead placing a cigar in his lips, setting it ablaze and taking a log drag. Bringing the cigar away from his mouth, Hoyt puffed out a haze of grey smoke that clung to Katerina's skin. "Do you know who Jason Brody is?"

"W…what?"

Katerina screamed to the excruciating singeing pain to the wound in her shoulder blade. Her fingernails clawed at the wood, sending splinters to flutter to the ground, as Hoyt buried his burning cigar into her skin. He pulled it away and chucked it to the floor, slapping Katerina's cheek with the back of his calloused hand. "Jason fucking Brody! Do you know who he is? Remember, don't fucking lie to me!"

"I…I…"

Hoyt grunted and sliced his knife beside the forming scar that was already engraved in her cheek. Blood began to trickle down her skin, streaming down her neck and falling to her breast. "Don't fucking stutter!" Hoyt hissed, waving his blade by her face, "look this is how it works. You do not whine, hesitate, stutter or lie. You just give me a straight answer! I'm a patient man. Come on, I'm waiting… with patience."

"He came with us…"

"Don't give me any quackery! Yes or no. Did you fucking know him?"

"Yes. I know him."

"Good. Was that so difficult."

Hoyt gave a wicked, alarming grin and snapped the sweat from his brow. Tossing the blade to the floor he waved his finger at her, jolting it in the air as he declared with an amusing tone of voice, "Let's add a new rule! Anytime that you lie, or refuse to answer me…"

Katerina gasped and jerked her body as Hoyt roughly snatched her hand, holding her little finger with his heavy hands. "I'll break your finger. Okay? That's sharpened the sticks a bit hasn't it? Now, why did Jason Brody come and see you?"

"See me? He hasn't come to…"

An eruption of pain flooded Katerina's body, as Hoyt sharply and roughly tugged her finger. She heard it click, like the snapping of a twig – she pictured that was what her small bone had done – and then the throbbing agony of pain flooded her body. She screamed out, and wailed as tears came streaming down her face like a waterfall.

"Come on focus." Hoyt snapped, slapping her across the cheek. "No whining. I'll ask again, but answer truthfully this time or you can say bon voyage to another finger. Why did Jason Brody come and see you?"

"He…he didn't!"

Another scream exploded from Katerina's lips as Hoyt yanked at another finger. Her whole body shuddered and she wheezed frantically, as tears pricked at her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, trickling down her neck and falling to her chest. Some tears were dripping from her jaw and splashing onto her jeans as she bowed her head forward.

"I'll try asking it another way. When and why did Jason Brody come and see you!"

"He didn't!" Katerina wailed out, snapping her head up and choking on her whines.

"Well this recording fucking says otherwise sweat heart!"

Katerina's ears twitched to the click of a button. Then the clatter of words began to ring through the dark room. It was Jason. She knew it was. Why did Hoyt have a recording of one of his conversations?

"I'm telling you now Denis," Jason's recording began. His voice was hoarse and static, he seemed to be concerned about something. Katerina continued to listen, and the tears seemed to stop swelling in her eyes and no longer dribbled down her cheeks. "I'm going to get her. Look, that bastard killed my brother. I'm not going to let him kill my friends, or my Riley or her, okay? Her and Grant… there's history and I'll be spitting on Grant's grave if I don't at least try and get her out of there! I care about her too much, and knowing that she's Vaas' fucking sex toy makes me sick. I'm not going to fucking leave her there. I know where she is! I'm going to get her tomorrow morning, and the Rakyat people are coming with me. I'm putting an end to this Denis, now will you join me?"

Hoyt clicked the button and snapped, "Now, I already know that for a period of time, god knows fucking why, but you belonged to Vaas, so don't fucking try and pretend that he is not talking about you. So, I'll ask again, when and why did Jason come to you?"

"I'll tell _you_ again! He didn't and I don't even know what that tape is about!"

Hoyt snarled and gave a growl, marching over to Katerina, with a set of plyers in his hand. "Tell me," he grunted, kneeling beside her and grasping onto one of her throbbing fingers. Katerina squealed soundlessly when he roughly snatched it and pried it away from the wood of the chair. "Tell me if you can feel this."

Katerina's heart could have jolted from her chest at that moment. She squealed and gritted her teeth as Hoyt rested the metal on her nail. But that didn't help the unbelievable rush of pain that exploded in her body. It was like setting a bomb off inside of her, and there was no stopping the eruptions of squeals that gushed from her lips. Her whole body quivered to the pain, and it even made her head pound and shake, as if an earthquake was going off in her head.

"You did feel it then. Look, if you tell me, it will stop. Where is Jason Brody?"

"I…I… don't know…. I don't know where he is…please."

More screams echoed through the room, and even if Katerina's gritted her teeth the squeals still erupted from her lips. She wept and shuddered as Hoyt yanked at another fingernail. Blood splashed onto the floor with a shrill echo, dripping from her shaken hand. Hoyt eventually grew bored after yanking out one more. Katerina could hardly bare the pain, and wished she could just pass out so that it would slip away.

"Don't you have stitches?" Hoyt inquired, flicking his blade into the air, and tapping it against his palm. Katerina lifted her head, and shook it, with tears flying from her wet eyelids.

"Stop lying. We've been at this for an hour, and still you're lying to me. I'm actually impressed. Mind if I take a look at your stitches?"

Katerina shuddered as he came closer. She couldn't bare this any longer. She had nothing to tell. Why wasn't that sinking into his skull? One straight hour of torture and pain. That is what she endured. And now after an hour, she could barely hold her head up. Suffering the lancing shredding pain to her hands that burned like a roaring searing flame. The monster had broken three fingers on her left hand, and ripped the nails from two fingers. He then trailed to the other hand, ripping one nail off of that, and then carving jagged wounds into the top of her hand with his knife. The wound in her cheek was deeper, and continued to seep warm red blood that trickled down to her jaw. Her lip was bleeding too and she had blood smeared on her forehead. Her shoulders bore one, maybe two burns from a hot burning cigar, and her shoulder blade was doused in puddles of blood where she bore a stinging wound that scratched at her skin. Her bicep bore cuts that also caused small amounts of blood trickle down her arm. She begged that it would stop. She couldn't do it anymore.

Her body trembled, with her lip quivering as Hoyt began slicing the top with his blade, roughly wrenching it from her body once slit. He cocked an eyebrow as he glared at the daunting black stitches in her gut. "They look painful." Hoyt hissed, dragging his blade across her shuddering skin that was clammy and damp with hot sweat. Katerina gritted her teeth and squeezed her wet eyelids tightly shut, knowing what was coming. Tears began swelling in her eyes as she moaned in pain, drumming her shoes against the floor and scratching against the wood of the surfaces, as Hoyt began digging his knife into her stitches. Blood oozed down her leg as Katerina continued to whimper.

"Hoyt your needed now!" A muffled voice grumbled from the radio stuffed in Hoyt's pocket. His voice was shaken, as if he was shouting so loud that the radio couldn't project it. Hoyt let out a growl and tossed his bloody blade to the floor – metal crashed against the ground with a shrill chime that made Katerina shiver. With a puff of breath, he tugged the radio from his pocket, and brought it to his mouth.

"I'm a bit fucking busy if you haven't noticed?" he spat into the radio. Katerina bowed her head to her chest, with tears trickling down her face and splashing onto her legs. Her whole body ached and burned, twisting and yanking at her muscles with malice to each twitch of pain. She had never felt anything like this. This was hell. She didn't see the point of wishing for it to stop. The lunatic would probably continue with this until she withered up into a ball - until there was nothing left of her.

"Hoyt! It's the fucking savages! You're needed now!"

"How the fuck, did they get here! Alright I'm coming!"

Hoyt growled, stamping his foot into the ground and kicking the table of torture devices to the ground. The veins in his neck pulsated wickedly against his coarse dark skin. With a fierce terrifying glow to his stone eyes, he marched over to Katerina and snatched a fist of her hair – but she did not bare the energy to squeal or protest. "I know that it's really unlikely that you will get away," Hoyt hissed, with his hot breath colliding against Katerina's tender skin. As he spoke, Katerina glared into to ground, barely able to keep her eyes open. "But if you do try and escape, well then I will toss you into a furnace so that you crackle like chicken! Stay right here!"

No more words were said. No more acts of cruelty. He vanished like smoke in the air. Leaving Katerina alone and broken in the dark.


	25. Linger

**Hi everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Sorry it's been a while since an update, but i've just been super busy, but, due to my absence, and made sure to make this chapter a long one. The support for this FanFic is amazing! Thank you so much! Enjoy~**

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Why was is so silent? Where was the brash thunder of roars and wails? Or the ear-splitting clatter of loud metal bullets spitting out from the mouths of guns? Or the clashing of metal colliding together in rapid speed, ringing through the air like bells? Katerina listened but… nothing. There was no echo, no whisper or murmur. Nothing. She craned her neck as far as she could, wincing with her lip trembling from the excruciating pain that swallowed her breaking body, and listened intently for any sort of whisper or muffled bang. Nothing. But if indeed there was nothing, then why the hurry? Why be so hectic? The muffled voice on the radio was definitely feverish - even when the voice was crackling like the crunching and rustles of dried leaves - it sounded worried, if not hysterical. But she could scarcely bear the energy to ponder with that. It didn't matter; Hoyt would be back soon, with a trail of fire following his callous daunting footsteps, and with that horrid malice growing like a roaring flame in his shallow stone eyes. Why had Vaas…. No, she couldn't. She would not let anything more destroy her...

Katerina's head bowed down, with her damp knotted hair flowing chaotically over her chest, and brushing against her stomach. Some strands of hair curled like old vines entangled around the trunk of a towering tree, tickling her bare skin and callously poking at the open stitches that bled and burned. The blood gushed from her stomach, slowly, like droplets of warm water splashing from a rusted tap, trickling down her thighs, flooding onto the wooden seat and splashing onto the still concrete floor with a high echo that tremored through the air like the squeals of ice, shattering into thousands of tiny white shards once the ground coldly greeted it. The fine hair on her skin became stiff, pointing into the air like the growing stems of flowers, or the stretching scrawny arms of trees, in which her body then began to tremble, shuddering from the unnatural wicked cold that clung to her with clammy claws. She could feel the blood oozing out of her, seeping from wounds and trickling down her quaking skin, or spattering onto the floor. Ice droplets flecked her jeans, falling from her long black eyelashes that shrouded her stinging eyes - eyes that endured the endless pricking of tears and now began to lose its once beautiful glow - and a fearsome red fluid began to engulf the once untainted fabric that was swathed around her shaking legs. Her chest ached, due to her lungs that couldn't take in air, and every breath she attempted to draw in, seemed to become trapped in her throat, creating a burn in her chest and triggering her insides to tremor and become tense. A dry cough exploded from her lips. It caused every pain inside of her to tug within her like a malice monster, in which she let slip a whine, with her body jolting in her seat. That was when the sobs started. Erupting from her lips like the ringing cries of an infant, with a shower of tears flooding from her eyes like the gushing natural waters from a grand waterfall. Even when she chewed onto her lip the whines continued, but at least when she did that, they were stifled.

Katerina flinched to the kicking off a door, a loud bang of wood smashing against the wall, making Katerina's body curl, with her fingers and toes scrunching up into knots. Clenching her teeth, an echo of a small whine slipped through her teeth as she moved her trembling fingers. Her glassy eyes wandered to them, in which she studied her fingertips with her hazy vision, due to the pool of tears that cloaked her pupils. Her vision was like the smoky grey mist that hovers near wet grass on a damp frosty morning in winter, when the sun fails to shine its golden light.

The footsteps startled her. It awakened the fear that dwelt in the pit of her stomach to spread all over her body, scattering its perilous disease across every inch of her, seeping to her wounds so that they would burn, scorching her skin as if it was a splash of poison, or a drop of acid. She bit onto her lip, gnawing onto her rouged flesh so hard that blood spurted from the skin and drowned her tongue. Her body froze like stone, as a restless sensation inundated her mind. All limbs froze, all but her legs, which vigorously shuddered up and down, rubbing against the wooden leg of the chair with an unnerving speed. She could feel her body sinking further and further into the chair. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to go!

"Hey," a brash voice yapped, triggering those ghastly recurring shivers of fright to tremble up her body. Katerina brought her knees together and buried her head into her shoulder, clasping her wet eyelids tightly shut and chewing anxiously at the inside of her cheek. _Please_, she pleaded to herself, as her whole body quivered chaotically, as if a snow storm and engulfed her, and swallowed up any warmth in the room_. Please, please just make it where he will leave. Please I want this to end. I can't do it. I can't…_

"Hey!" the voice barked again. Katerina squealed soundlessly and jerked her body when something harshly knocked against the side of her foot. Her eyes scanned to her feet, where a daunting black combat boot mounted on the floor, with the toes pointing towards Katerina's foot. Katerina coughed silently with her mouth and teeth barred together, as she chocked on the clump of air that slowly crawled down her throat. When she swallowed it she slowly craned her neck upwards, to finally look upon the fearsome brute in front of her. When she peered up, her dull almond shaped eyes fluttered open, with splashes of tears sprinkling out into the air. A clump of matted hair hung over half of her face, as if one side of her was hiding behind a curtain.

"Remember me bitch!" the man in front growled. He was heavy built, with robust arms and a bulky frame; plastered from head to toe in the cyclical black and yellow combat armour. His hair was fair, and he bore a thick tousled beard along his squared jaw. His nose was fat and distorted, and his eyes were an ailing grey colour with no light to the orbs. What startled her, was the fresh, jagged blood-red scar that traced from his left temple all the way down to his bottom lip. His lip then curled up into a vicious scowl.

Katerina squealed as the man seized the chair and suspended it on its two back legs so that Katerina was almost hanging in the air. She winced at the hiss of his blade being tugged out from its sheath and whimpered as he held it beside her face. _Fuck!_ Katerina mused with a muffled whimper,_ fuck I know him. He was one of the guards that brought me here. But not just any guard… fuck!_

"Look at me!" he growled; his voice shaking and crackling from his rage, "look what you fuckin' did!"

Katerina winced to the cold metal of the blade biting at her skin. _Don't move, don't move Kat_, she told herself, swallowing her startled breaths and biting onto her lip and she hesitantly gaped at the man who hissed like a wild beast in front of her_. _Her lips parted, and a gust of air slowly drifted from her mouth. She tried to speak; only a crackled croak spurted from her lips and rumbled in her throat. She tried again, "I…" she muttered, choking on her ragged breath, "I didn't do that."

"Fuckin liar!" he spat, juddering the chair in his harsh grasp, making Katerina shriek, tensing her body as if t turned to stone. "It was you who brought that fucking cat out wasn't it! And now look! Look at my fuckin' face! My mate is dead in the grass because of you! And now! Now it's time for you to pay for it you little bitch!"

His blade gently brushed against Katerina's cheek, slowly skimming across her lip, trailing the border of her nose, and them probing at her eyebrow – if he jabbed the blade a little harder he would draw blood. "Maybe," he hissed, as Katerina screeched through her gritted teeth, "maybe I'll start by giving you a pretty little scar starting from here, then drag the blade all the way down to your chin. And pierce the metal right through your eye!" "You wouldn't be pretty anymore."

Katerina's heart thudded against her ribcage, with her body fidgeting in the chair as he traced his blade across her skin. Her tender hands clenched into fists and she barred her lip tightly shut as the man tossed the blade to the floor.

"So maybe," the man hissed, with an alarming chuckle shaking in his throat, "as a little starter…" The man chuckled as he dropped the chair, swinging the chair and Katerina backwards. Katerina's body rattled from side to side as the chair toppled to the ground, and a shriek exploded from her lips as her body and head crashed against the floor. The snapping of wood rang through her ears like a siren, and Katerina moaned uncomfortably to the piece of wood that was quarrying into her lower back. Her hands suddenly felt free, and when she scanned to her hands and feet she saw how the rope was no longer bounded to them. She frowned, glaring at the bruises and trickles of blood engraved around her wrists and ankles.

Katerina released a sharp scream as the brute roughly snatched a fistful of her hair, brutally tugging her up from the chair and then lobbing her back onto the floor beside his feet. A crackled groan erupted from her lips as she buried her head into the floor. "Maybe," the man growled, "I'll just enjoy your beauty."

Those very words flecked chills across her skin. She moaned into the floor and raked her bleeding hand across the ground, slowly tugging her body away.

"Where you goin' baby?"

Fingers coiled around her ankles and made her body thrash against the ground even more, but it was no use. She grunted as her body was lugged backwards, and shrieked in pain as her wound scratched against the rough toothed ground. She felt the bone crunching impact of the brute's body weighing her down and resting on her back. Before she could squeal or move, a set of calloused hands seized her skull, where they lugged it up into the air, before jolting it back down again. Katerina smacked her head against the floor with a stifled grunt. The blood that was trickling from her cheek now smeared across most of her face, and flooded the cold wet floor that she was lying on.

With the twist of his heavy hand, the brute flicked Katerina's body, so that she rolled onto her back. A gust of breath erupted from Katerina's lips as she tried to get the air back to her lungs. "You think you're so fucking smart, don't ya?" he hissed, ferocity juddering in his venomous voice. His hand quickly clouted against her cheek. Katerina squawked as her head snapped to the side. "You think that because someone shows some interest in you, it makes you a special sort of bitch!" "Wrong!" His hand crashed against her cheek again, snapping her head back to the other side. Wails seeped from Katerina's lips as tears streamed down her burning face. His fingertips tangled around strands of her hair and, with a tight grasp on it, he tugged her head up so that his mouth was beside her ear. Her eyelids dropped over her dull eyes, and his lips parted as heavy blasts of breath spurted from her mouth.

"This is the end for you darling," he hissed, chuckling will a chilling humour that made Katerina's stomach flip and her body quake from repulsion. The smell of alcohol and bloody flesh swamped her, and lingered by her nostrils. She gaged and her breath rasped in her throat. Snapping her tongue across her chapped desert dry lips, she studied the fleshy neck of the man with her eyes squinting, creating the shape of almonds or sunflower seeds. As his head arched closer to hers, she swung her mouth to his jaw. Her hair flicked up in the air, and snapped across his skull as she jerked her neck forwards. A thunderous roar erupted from the brute's mouth, and he quickly pulled away, with his palm grasping onto his jaw that was bleeding, with droplets of red fluid streaming down his hand. With a grunt he swung his arm and smacked Katerina in the face once again – her whole body swung to the side with her stomach colliding against the ice floor. "Fuckin' crazy bitch," he snorted as he apprehensively glared at his hand, doused in his red blood.

Dragging her body away with the movements of her elbows, Katerina swiftly crawled across the floor, smearing the brute's blood off her lip with the back of her hand and flicking the blood of her teeth with her tongue. The vague metallically taste of copper for a moment seemed sweet, and the blood, for a second, was warm on her tongue.

Thud thud thud, echoed in her ear, with the scuffing of a boot, sounding similar to the scratching of a match. The man's foot kicked up into the air and crashed against her stomach. A stifled groan burst from Katerina's lips as she cried out in pain, digging her forehead into the ground as she gript onto her stomach which was wet and warm with fresh blood.

"You know you can't get away," he sighed, with heavy shots of breath spitting out from his lips, "so why don't you just give up?"

Katerina steadied herself, pressing all of her weight onto her elbows and puffing out snaps of breath as she bowed her head to the floor. Still with the ragged breathing erupting from her lips, she lugged her aching body further along the floor, hardly able to move her legs as her knees brushed against the ground. A low snicker rang through the dense air, "I guess you have other plans." The man chuckled – with a blast of heavy breath to each break in the sentence.

Again he jerked his foot against her gut, with the tip of his boot cruelly tunnelling into her wound. She felt as if she was being ripped in half, and wailed out her cries of agony, rolling onto her back with her hand cradled around her stomach. Tear droplets spilled across her face, trickling from her eyes that were sealed shut as she gritted her teeth and hissed through the gaps.

The man laughed as he gawked at her from above, scratching his chin and sniffling, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand. With his tongue flicking across his lips, he swung one leg over Katerina, who was too slow to move by the time he crashed down onto her, pinning her down with his weight. His fist snatched her wrists, and jammed them in the floor as his head hovered above her face.

"You can try begging." He hissed, curling his lip and revealing a wicked smile that was painted on his callous face.

"Fuck you!" Katerina spat, jerking her head uncomfortably and exhaling loudly as she sluggishly rocketed her body on the floor.

"I don't like that!" The brute yapped, releasing his firm grasp on her wrists and instead throwing his hands for her neck, wrapping his fingers tightly around her flesh as he pushed her head into the ground. The blood flushed out from her cheeks, leaving behind an ailing colour that was white as paper. Katerina reached her arms above her head, frantically rummaging for something to grab onto as she chocked beneath the harsh grasp of the brute on top of her small shattering frame. "Beg!" he growled, jolting her head in his hands.

Before her eyes could roll to the back of her head a shrill deafening explosion erupted in the air, splitting the air in half and crackling in Katerina's eardrums, creating a shrill ringing in her ear. As the man's hand fell from her skin, a dreaded lump in her throat rapidly flushed up her neck, scorching her skin as it unnaturally crawled its away up to her tongue. Leaning her head forward and spinning onto her stomach, Katerina spurted out a clump of dry coughs that were making her wheeze and slitting her throat, like how one would feel after indulging on too much spicy food that sent your tongue ablaze. Blood from her stomach trickled onto the floor as her back arched into the air. She gaged and panted, as the long dry coughs continued to erupt from her mouth. Still coughing silently, with her fingertips stroking her neck which now bore red claw marks, she craned her neck where white light sprang into the room. Standing beside the door, with smoke dispersing from the mouth of his gun, was him…

Tears welled in Katerina's eyes and her lips trembled as she glared at him. No longer could she feel the pain. No longer did fear overwhelm her like a poison. He was exactly how she last saw him. How she pictured him in her perplexed mind. Though now he was heroic. If only he came sooner… she didn't mind.

Vaas gritted his teeth in awe, chucking his pistol to the floor with the flick of his hand and stamping his boot into the ground, slowly pushing the door shut with the tip of his finger. The creak of the door rattled in the room, and the chiming and hammering of the gun skipping across the ground made the room quake. The pirate lord swung his foot into the air, stuffed his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants, and trotted over to the man who stumbled to his knees, clutching onto his bleeding shoulder; grunting in pain. Vaas moved like a sadistic animal, riddled with insanity and thirst. The sway of his movements, the caper in his step and the growing blaze in his blank frozen eyes were all the steps of a merciless predator toying with its prey, looking at its prey in the eye, lip curling into a sinful smile with venom dripping from its razor fangs. When Vaas reached him, crouching to his level with his fists grazing the floor, the man did not move, nor did he breathe.

He studied him for a moment, glaring at the frozen brute in the eye, with his eyes scanning to the bleeding bite-mark in his jaw. A chuckle sprung from Vaas lips, with his mouth stretching to a grin that exposed his gleaming teeth, as he swung his head to Katerina, who lay glaring at him on the floor. Looking at her changed his mood completely. He glared back at her, his face falling to a frown with a lump slowly slipping down his throat when he swallowed. Katerina pushed on her hand, trying to get up but her body quaked and she fell to her waist with a grunt and slap of her arm.

"Amigo," Vaas yapped, craning his neck to glare at the man once more, "¿hiciste esto?"

The man gript more tightly onto his shoulder, cocking his eyebrow and shifting on his knees, swallowing his breath as he glared back at the pirate in front of him. He watched the scar trace up his skull and shivered. He wished he didn't know who this perilous pirate was.

Vaas chuckled, tilting his head with a predatory manner and snapping at him again, "¿amigo, te pregunté ¿hiciste esto?" The man opened his mouth to reply but only air flushed from his lips. Vaas waved his arm beside his head as he continued, "perdón, no hablas español? No entiendes lo que estoy diciendo? Hablas un solo idioma? No eres lo suficientemente inteligente? O tal vez, tal vez, eres un pinche idiota, eh? Una maldita perra. Un marica! No jodas conmigo hijo de puta! Hiciste esto?"

"You better start speaking fucking English man," the brute spat, curling his lip as he snarled at Vaas.

Vaas only chuckled again, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. Katerina jerked her body and let slip a small yelp when Vaas suddenly attacked him. His fist fired through the air, jolting as quickly as light, and abruptly knocked against the brute's eye so that he toppled to the floor. Sprinkles of salvia spurted out from his lips as his head whacked to the side, and when he crumpled to the floor, thumping his head on the ground with a quaking thud, blood began to pour down his cheek, as thick as yogurt, seeping from his swelling bloodshot eye that was now hazy and burning. Vaas released a terrifying growl as he volleyed his body towards him, throwing his fists towards his body and gifting bone crunching punches to his face. Katerina cringed and shivered when she detected the cowering crackle of the man's nose being hammered by Vaas' fists. She quickly snapped her head away, shuddering and clutching her body as the bangs vibrated in her ears. She could picture it in her mind. The man's nose shrivelling up like a dying leave and sinking further and further into his face. She could feel her stomach turning, bile rattling her stomach and flushing up her throat. She gaged, pressing her fists to her mouth as she studied the cracks in the floor. When she built up the courage to look back over her shoulder, she did not expect to see what she saw.

Katerina expected the man to be dead by now, crumpled and broken, shrivelling into a pile of meat as he lay in a pool of his own blood. Instead, they were up of on their feet, grasping each other's necks or heads as they threw their heavy handed arms at one another. The man caught Vaas in the cheek, and he stumbled backwards, waddling like a puppet on his feet. The man took his nose with his fingers and clicked it side to side – Katerina shuddered to the snapping sounds of bone that tremored in the room. Vaas watched, craning his neck and laughing, clicking his fingers and stretching his arms. The man brushed the blood from his face with his arm and raised his hands, clenching them into fists. Vaas grinned, sticking out his pink tongue and clicking his neck to the side as he mirrored his movements precisely as if he was the man's own reflection. He moved like a ghost, planting one foot in front of the other with delicacy and precision, arching his back and twisting his head like a tiger ready to pounce from the grass. Vaas signalled his hands in the air, and barked with rage, "Give me your best shot motherfucker!"

The man hurdled for him, howling and growling as he threw his punches. Vaas ducked, dodged and hopped away from every punch, snickering like a mad man whenever the brute missed from bad aim – or perhaps Vaas was just too quick of a target. How did the brute manage to even hit his cheek? When he dipped down, Vaas suddenly sprang up again, jerking his fist to the man's nose. The crunch of his bone made the whole room quake, and blood flushed out from his nose with the same impact as a waterfall. Blood rushed down his neck, tainting his clothes and slipping on his lips. With the man stumbling backwards, swaying side to side like a drunken fool, Vaas snatched his collar and swung his head onto his. Again, again and again. The man fell to his knees, dazed, staring up at Vaas with hazy vision and with horror swelling in his swollen blood-shot eyes. With the curl of his lip, Vaas delivered one final blow to the man's face that triggered his limp body to topple to the floor with a loud thud that shook the ground. His bones shattered to the touch of Vaas' fist, and when Vaas pulled his hand away, blood dripped from his knuckles where he had scuffed his skin. If you looked hard enough, you could possibly even seen the white bone in his clenched hand. Blood was even smeared on his forehead.

Wiping the blood from his head with the back of his hand, Vaas craned his neck and drew his attention to Katerina. She parted her lips and exhaled heavily, with her body tumbling to the floor, with her cheek scuffing against the ground. Vaas' eyes widened, and with the kick of his feet he dashed towards her, sliding against the floor as he crouched beside her.

"Amada! Katerina!" he hollered, grasping her by the shoulders and juddering her gently in his grasp. With a grunt, he hauled her limp body onto his lap, and cradled his arm around her. From out his pocket, he tugged out a syringe. A gust of breath glided from Vaas' lips when Katerina's body began to wriggle in his arms. Her eyes fluttered open, with her wet black eyelashes flickering when she blinked.

"Why are you here?" she croaked, hardly able to unscrew her lips.

"This is will take the pain away. You may feel a sting." He warned, with a soothing calming manner floating from his lips. He flicked the pointed silver needle with his nail and slowly jabbed it into her stomach, pressing down on the other end of the syringe with his thumb. A yelp of pain slipped from Katerina's mouth as the needle poked further into her skin. Vaas held her tighter, pressing his lips on the top of her head as the needle sank further into her flesh. When done, he drawn it out and chucked it onto the floor.

"Fuck." He muttered as he scooped her up in his arms, rising to his feet with Katerina's legs swaying beside his waist. She gritted her teeth, and whimpered in pain between her ragged breaths. Her fingernails quarried into the back of Vaas neck that she had flung her arms around as Vaas shifted her body to get a firmer grip on her limbs. "I'm s… I shouldn't have…"

"What?" Katerina croaked, slothfully lifting her head to peer up at him.

"Never mind."

"Asshole."

"Yeah, I know."

Vaas stopped at the door, and made his grip on Katerina tighter. A blast of breath burst from his mouth as he peered to look at her in his arms. As angry as she was with him, I mean, she was furious - It was his fault that this happened to her, well not entirely his fault of course, but either way he did toss her to the prick who did all this to her - but for that moment, Katerina let all the anger and hatred towards him pool out of her, disperse from her mind like steam on glass shower walls. Her head nestled into his chest, and her hands swathed around his neck. His skin was warm, damp with sweat, but in an odd way, she liked it. It was him. It was all him. She closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled his scent, the sickly sweet scent of salt from his skin simmered to her nostrils and drifted there. There was a saccharine arousing fragrance to him, which made her mind melt like butter. Her fingertips grazed his skin, his coarse firm skin that triggered shivers to scuttle up her body. She wanted to stay here forever, remain in his embrace, being lost in his presence, and fall into a trance like state when he touched her. A long gust of breath slowly slithered from her lips and she brushed her face against his shirt, with her knotted hair tangling around his neck. When he spoke, she awakened from her spell, and her eyes sprang open once again. The corners of her mouth slumped to a slight sulk – the moment was not long enough. Why not linger in this moment for just a while longer?

"Keep tight hold of me," Vaas ordered, in which Katerina's grasp on his neck already became more secure, "we're both a threat now."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm breaking the rules."

"You weren't supposed to come back for me, were you?"

Vaas paused for a moment, as if searching for the perfect way to answer that question. Katerina glared in wonder at him, admiring the dread in his eyes. Dread? How could that be right? Vaas could never become worried… could he?

"No."

That answer made Katerina's lips lift into a grin. She smiled to herself and nestled her head into Vaas' neck, gripping onto his shoulders and hugging his body with her arms. She shut her eyes and buried her face into his body. Her faith was in him now. She was glad… she felt safer with him this near.

"No matter what happens, do as I say," he muttered, hugging her body closer to him as he leant his body against the rusted metal door. Katerina looked up to him, fluttering her eyes open as she examined his face. What did he mean? A sickly fear flooded her body, unlike any fear she had felt before, and being close to Vaas did not curb it, in fact, it may have made it worse. His touch, fed the fear that made her tremble, made her want to vomit and wither. What was this?

The white light from the shimmering sun outside blinded her vision. Everything she looked at was just a white light, white lights that were hazy grey figures like smoke from nauseating cigars that would rest in the coarse fingertips of a feral foe, dashing in mad directions in the horizon. She looked up to Vaas. She could see him clearly, his hazel brown eyes that, for the first time, seemed to gleam and glow like gold. Not forgetting his acutely shaped pale luscious lips, his striking square shaped jaw and the neat ebony beard and facial hair that was precisely trimmed and formed. She closed her eyes, digging her face into his chest as she bobbed up in down in his protective robust arms. She pictured his face. Remembering every detail exactly. She wondered if he was doing the same.

Vaas cupped Katerina's skull with his hand, as he swiftly skulked around the border of the shack he had just sprung out with. She was like a doll in his arms, as light and as delicate as a feather. The knocking of her foot against his waist kept him focused – kept him alert. He knew what he was getting into by doing this, he had recited the consequences over and over and over again, until it clawed at his brain and drilled into his skull like an insect clicking across his brain. The insect was a new problem, if it wasn't new, he would have noticed it years ago, and done something about it. If he could, he would rip whatever it was that was latched to his mind and crush it with his fists – if he could.

As he stopped to check his surroundings, his eyes couldn't help but wander to the young woman in his arms, who buried her face in his chest. His fingertips brushed against her arms, with his chin resting on her skull. He grinded his teeth together, juddering his leg as he crouched like an animal in the ground.

Vaas clutched tightly onto Katerina's back and leg and dashed through the back of the camps. No guards – that was good… so far. Katerina's hair brushed against his chin. Vaas inhaled her scent whilst the strands lingered there. He inhaled, with his chest rising and falling slowly. His lips pressed against Katerina's head once again, with his eyes squeezing shut when he kissed her for that short second.

Katerina's grip become tighter, with her fingernails latching onto Vaas' shoulder as if they were claws, as soon as she felt her body lurch in the air - of course Vaas still had hold of her, she was secure in his arms; she knew that. She felt the wind hit her back as Vaas rushed through the air. Tears swelled in her eyes and flooded onto Vaas' skin – why was she crying? She did not know.

The clatter of gunshots and howls were becoming too familiar to Katerina, but now she was more fretful than ever. She squealed into Vaas' shoulder, bringing her knees to her chest as she hung in Vaas' arms. She shut her eyes. _It's just a dream, it's just a dream._ She repeated over and over again in her mind. _It's not real, it's not real. Just a dream, it's just a dream. Don't wake up, it's just a dream._

"Vaas! Vaas!" a voice hollered, with frantic manner. Katerina's ears' twitched to the sound, and her head lifted from Vaas, wet with tears that she hadn't acknowledge had flushed from her eyes. "Boss! Here!"

The gunshots grew louder, and the way Vaas was jerking Katerina in her arms made her worry.

"Here," Katerina heard Vaas mutter – feeling the vibrations rumble in his throat and chest. She felt another pair of hands grasp her legs and hip, prying her away from Vaas' body.

"No! No!" Katerina squealed, trying to grasp for Vaas' body once pried away. Her body jolted in the new pair of arms that restrained her, hauling away from the person she didn't want to be ripped from. She wondered where she got the energy from. "No! Get of me! Get of me! Vaas!" she cried, stretching out for Vaas who grasped her fingertips.

"Katerina calm down, just go with him alright? Just go." he ordered, slowly prying his fingers away from hers. She cried out and jerked her body, kicking her legs and crying out for him. To even Vaas' surprise the new pair of arms could not restrain her. Suddenly, her body swivelled out from the grasp and stumbled to the floor, scrambling to her feet to rush towards Vaas who was now a few feet away. She heard someone bellow out her name behind her as she rushed towards him.

"Don't leave," she pleaded as her hands crashed against his arms, coiling around his biceps and clutching onto them tightly, with her feet on her tip toes so her head was closer to his. "Please Vaas, you can't." she cried, biting her lip to fight back the tears that tried desperately to flood her skin.

"Remember what I said amada, do I as say, no matter what happens!" he yapped, jolting her arms with his hands with his body nearly brushing against her. His head ducked to the gunshots with his neck twisting to peer behind his shoulder. "Now go with them! Now!"

He spun around quickly and marched away from her reaching for his gun.

"Vaas wait!" she hollered, rushing towards him with dusting of mud flicking up in the air beside her shoes. Before she even got to him he quickly spun his body around and stretched out his arm to grab her. His hand grasped her arm in which he tugged her towards him. Her body knocked against his chest with her elbows brushing against his red top. Grabbing a fistful of her hair he tilted her head upwards in which he rammed his lips into hers. She reached up her hand and traced it up his neck, as his tongue ravished her mouth, brushing across her teeth and dancing with her own tongue. For that moment it was only them two there as they embraced each other. Embracing each other's touch, the taste; the smell. Vaas trailed his hand across the border of her body, with his fingertips brushing against her waist and his palm sweeping up her back. Once his hands cupped her face, with his thumb caressing her skin, he pulled away.

"Now go!" he urged, brushing his fingertips across her neck, and brushing the hair from her hair face.

Katerina nodded leaning back to her tip toes to kiss him again, savouring the taste of his lips and tongue as they flecked each other with short sensual kisses that only lasted a second.

"Go!" he ordered again, shoving her away with a gentle push on the arm that made her stumble backwards.

By this time another set of hands grasped onto her shoulder, slowly hauling her away. "Come on lass," the voice from behind murmured, a gentle voice filled with empathy. The pair of hands made her stumble backwards – the distance between her and Vaas becoming larger by the second. As he looked back at her he gave a nod and a small grin, before yanking out his gun and tugging back the hammer, swivelling his body around and dashing towards the swarm of bullets that headed his way.

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**O.o, So, what did you think of this one? Guys, the suppport for this FanFic is AMAZING! I'm so grateful for all of your support, again Thank You so much!**

**In this chapter there was a Spanish section for our Favourite character - Vaas. You dont really need to know what he was saying because Kat nor the other man could understand him so it was kinda' putting you in their shoes, but if you do want to know what he was saying there is a translation here, provided by a very helpful reader of this FanFic...**

**Thank you so much, "Luuz" for helping me out with this translation, your support means a lot and is very appreciated. Your awesome :)**

"¿hiciste esto?" – did you do this?

"¿amigo, te pregunté ¿hiciste esto?" – friend, I ask, did you do this?

"perdón, no hablas español? No entiendes lo que estoy diciendo? Hablas un solo idioma? No eres lo suficientemente inteligente? O tal vez, tal vez, eres un pinche idiota, eh? Una maldita perra. Un marica! No jodas conmigo hijo de puta! Hiciste esto?" - Sorry. Do you not speak Spanish? Do you not know what I'm saying? Only speak one language? Not smart enough? Or maybe, or maybe, you're a fucking idiot, eh? A fucking bitch. A cunt! Dont fuck with me motherfucker! Did you do this?

**Thanks guys! Stay awesome! (^.^)**


	26. Explosions

**Firstly, I will apologize for making you guys wait so long for an update - but due to work, and personal stuff, it's honestly been a struggle to find the time, to conjure up a new chapter for you all. But, here I am, with a new chapter - just for you! I can't stress this enough, but the support i'm getting for this fanfic is AMAZING! Truly! The numbers that this story has reached is almost incomprehensible to me, so thank you guys so much for being, well awesome! I wouldn't been still writing this if it wasn't for all you fabulous readers out there, so, due to your support, I am determined to finish this for you all - at the best of my abilities. **

**Anyway, I really hope that you enjoy this one, as always comments are appreciated, as i love to know what you guys think. Oh, and a small heads up, prepare yourselves, because the likelihood is, that this FanFic will be drawing to a close pretty soon. I'm in the process of wrapping up the story...**

**Well, I've rambled enough, haha. Thank you all so much! Stay Awesome :) Enjoy~**

* * *

"Christ! It's like a god damn war zone out here!" that same panicked voice barked – bursting from the lips of a man who cradled Katerina's dazed, crumbling body in his arms. He vigilantly dashed through the perilous air, with Katerina swaying like a doll in his gentle, yet secure grasp.

The explosions of gunshots and perilous screams flooded Katerina's ears. The horrific shrill eruptions were so loud, so brash and callously dreadful that it was enough to make her ears bleed from the horrendous ordeal. The smell of smoke, and metal was enough to make her stomach flip. The splatters of blood polluting the grass enough to make her retch or faint. But her eyes would not divert from the spot in which Vaas had said his goodbye. She looked out for him. Fretfully scanning the area as if in search for some precious object of some sort. The sting in her glassy eyes was something she didn't have time for! She had to catch sight of him! One small glimpse! She could not leave without seeing him! She couldn't! She persisted on checking the area with her racing eyes, even if beads of clouded tears wickedly fought against her to blur her vison. She couldn't leave without him! _Fuck!_ She nearly bellowed aloud, _Fuck, where is he? Where's Vaas?_

Katerina didn't even acknowledge that she was being stuffed into a rumbling car. It was not until she felt the disturbing discomfort of a rattling seat, causing heavy, ghastly vibrations to crudely caper through her skin that she realised that she had been dropped from someone's grasp.

Her fingertips gript onto the edge of the car, and she craned her neck, biting her lip and wincing as she peered out and fretfully scanned the war zone.

"Fuck!" one voice bellowed out. It was behind her, in which Katerina snapped her head behind her to look upon the person who spoke. The face was recognisable, she had seen him before. But from where? It couldn't have been someone she resented or feared, for none of them sickly sensations slithered across her skin. She analysed his face with narrowing, inquisitive eyes, unearthing anything hidden behind his thin emerald eye; noting the green bandana coiled around his head, and the curling tight rings of dark hair sticking out in mad directions on the top of his skull. She found it curious that one eye was covered with a daunting black eye patch tightly coiled around his head. A grim scar had engraved his skin, stretching from his nose all the way to his cheek.

"I know I'm charming to gawk at las, but we gotta get our arses into gear," the man comically teased, with a sweet Irish twang to his words, "now we gotta get the feck outa here, before we end up curling over, okay? It's turned god damn feckin' crazy out there; if we stay, were sitting ducks – meaning were dead." "You're sweet little face won't do no good when it's cold and still, will it?" he calmly stated with a grin, reaching out his hand to caress Katerina's face.

"Don't touch me!" she viciously barked, snapping her head away and abruptly reaching for a bag that was chucked on the floor. She rummaged through it quickly, throwing her hands inside, and raking them through all the pointless objects that was stuffed into it. She suddenly let out a sharp squeal, a crackled cry of lancing pain hissing through her clench teeth. Her fingers curled up like shrivelled leaves, in which she subconsciously brought up her hand to bite down onto them, with tears swelling in her eyes.

The man anxiously looked across to her, toying with the controls in the car and resting his hands on the torn steering wheel. The blood dribbling from her fingertips made him wince; the swelling redness to some fingers making his toes curl. The daunting graze carved deep into her cheek, was something that made your skin shudder. The wounds behind the pools of blood on her hand and chest – indescribably painful. There was no doubt – the girl was in a real bad shape. "There should be a first aid pack in there," he stammered, with a dry cough in between his brittle words, "I would help but I'm afraid we can't stay 'ere. Take a shot for the pain."

The girl only looked to him, nearly scowling with her lips screwed into a state of sorrow and anger, before she swiftly drew her attention back to the contents of the bag on her lap.

"He didn't rip out all the purity from you did he?"

Katerina stopped to look at the man beside her, who gazed at her with wide, friendly eyes that were awaiting an answer. She brought her eyebrows together, and then her eyes widened. Why was she so stupid? How did she not see? "Declan?" she gasped. What happened to him? Did the Rakyat do that to him?

An explosion nearby cut off any conversation. The shrill eruption rang in Katerina's ears, blurring her vision like an opaque blanket of grey ash. All that she heard was the faint growl of the car, and then the vibrations throttled her body. Moans of the wind whispered like suffocating ghosts in her ears, with the abruptness of the fierce wind smacking her in the face. The sharpness of the biting breeze made her eyes water, with a sting infesting pupils as beads of clouded tears swelled in her eyes. When the blurry figures came into view she understood what was happening. She was leaving! Where was she going? How could she leave now?

She felt the inviting, hot embrace of adrenaline devour her body – dominating her senses and rational thoughts. The agony jabbing madly at her, for that moment, pooled away like the quick melting of white ice.

Abruptly tugging on the hissing zip of the grey rucksack, ceiling it shut, she promptly flung it over her shoulder, and threw her hands towards the handle of the zooming car, not giving her movements much thought or attention.

"Fuck!" was the last thing that rang in her eardrums, before she threw he body out of that racing car, squeezing her eyelids tightly shut and bringing her arms close to her chest. The bumps and scratching rocks on the road jabbed into her flesh, as her tumbling body gruffly rolled across it, feeling to her, as if some cruel soul was viciously punching her body. The rocks scratched at her, yanking and tearing at her clothes – probably leaving faint red nicks and grazes across her skin.

When her body stopped toppling down that harsh, toothed road, she let out a mad groan of pain – crying out a sharp roar of discomfort as she lay in a bed of stabbing rocks. Blinding yellow sand blew up from the ground, surrounding her like a cloud of shadowed smoke. Her eyes trailed to the bag that was a few feet away from her. To her it was so far away. But she had to get to it!

Another groan of pain slipped from her tongue – rattling in her parched throat – as she dragged her aching body across the jagged, bitter ground, with the pull of her arms. Her elbows burrowed into the dry dirt, raking across stones and draggling across the sandpaper road. Speckles of blood trailed behind her, as her body towed its way through the tormenting path to the bag.

When she finally reached it, a sigh of relief erupted from her mouth - thin strings of blood trickling from the small gash in her bottom lip. She could barely push her body up, so instead quickly rummaged through the bag, with her body still laying limply in the dry dirt. She tugged out the first aid box from the sack, with heavy bursts of breath spurting from her lips, as she pried the box open with any strength she had left. She flung her hand to the first syringe that caught her eye, not bothering to glance at the small label attached to it. Gritting her teeth, she quickly jabbed the needle into her waist, tear droplets spitting out from her eyes as the sharp needle pierced her skin. Tossing the used syringe into the dirt, she quickly dived for the next thing. She took the small bottle in her hands, shaking with anxiousness with her flesh throbbing. She bit onto her lip and sluggishly unscrewed the lid, still trembling as she glared at the bottle. _This is going to hurt,_ she mused, with a wince, before tipping the bottle's contents onto her fingertips.

Her cries of pain rattled through the dense jungle air, with the agony in her screech making nearby creatures scamper away into the wilderness. Even the trees turned away, with their branches quaking in the breeze as the deprived girl's squeals of excruciation echoed in the air. Tears rolled down he cheeks, as she shakily wrapped a bandage around her the fingertips that had lost their nails. She then proceeded to lift up her shirt, to give the sickening wound in her gut the same treatment.

There was no more bandage left for her arm, chest or collarbone, in which she left the less bothering wounds to embrace the bitterness of jungle air – unable to cease the beads of blood which, from time to time, trickled out from the wounds and down her skin. There was enough alcohol left for her to knock some down, but she gaged and coughed it all up quickly when realising what she had done. It burned her throat when the cruel contents gushed up her throat. Why had she just done that? It was stupid…

Katerina shakily stumbled to her feet, jabbing another syringe into her skin to let herself escape from the tormenting pain that plagued her body, and even knocking back a few pills to speed up the process. She did not care for any effects the excessive use of drugs did to her. She had to get moving… now! The hand gun that she had taken from the rucksack, shook in her hand as she held it beside her waist. Heavy bursts of breath erupted from her mouth, in short, unsteady gasps, as she looked ahead, studying the hazy figure that came rushing towards her.

"Las, what the feckin' hell did ya do that for?" the figure bellowed, with the ecstatic waves of his arms, "I'm meant ta keep ya alive. Not be responsible for ya death!"

With her arm quivering, and the gun rattling in her grasp, Katerina slowly lifted it in the air, with the mouth of the gun pointing directly towards Declan, who raised his hands in shock – gulping and moving cautiously slow, with beads of sweat mustering on his brow.

"What are ya doing las?" he nervously yapped, ceasing his movements when Katerina jerked the gun with a sharp motion of her wrist. He noted the white bandage swathed around her right hand – the same trembling hand which clasped onto the gun – with a sort of plaster wrapped around one fingertip. The same grey plaster was coiled around other wounded fingertips on her other hand. But Declan's attention soon diverted back to the weapon in the girl's grasp. She held it loosely, to his surprise, with no tightness. Her fingers trembling, with a droplet of sweat trickling slowly down her skin.

"Go back Declan," she warned, chocking on muffled sobs that slowly started to crawl up her throat, creating tears to muster on her eyelashes. "Don't come any closer. Please."

"Las. What are ya doin'? I'm not the enemy. Ya know that."

"You're not far from a foe."

"What the feck is that supposed to mean? I haven't hurt ya, have I? Ya know ya can trust me."

"Go back Declan."

"I can't do that las. I'm following orders. If ya go back, you'll die."

"What orders? Vaas, can't give orders anymore. He's out of the game. Now leave! Don't make me do something I will regret. Please, Declan."

"If ya go back to that hell, ya won't return las."

"Vaas isn't giving orders anymore… so please leave."

"Who said Vaas gave the orders?"

"What?" A puzzled look came over Katerina, in which her gun slowly started to lower. What did he mean? Who other than Vaas would have given the orders to get her away?

"I can tell you're not wantin' to come. So I'm afraid I will just have to make ya las. I don't wanna hurt a soul that has already gone through enough pain, so I'll tell ya now. Drop the fecking gun las, and come with me."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Katerina spat, bringing her eyebrows together, and now pointing the gun more directly at Declan. "Huh? Tell me now!" her voice grew louder, tumbling into an erratic shout, with croaks of stifled sobs dropping from her tongue. She continued, yelling as she waved the gun, with tears dripping from her blinking eyes. "What the fuck are you plotting? Who the fuck are you? What do want with me, huh, asshole? What the fuck do you want with me?"

"Now las, ya need to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm the fuck down you fucking snake! I'll ask you one more time, before I pull this trigger and end you! Got it? Who the fuck are you?"

"Las, I'm not ya enemy… you're not gonna pull that trigger."

"Are you sure about that?" Katerina growled, tugging back the hammer with her thumb, "last try. Who are you?"

"Me name is Declan, and I'm former member of the privateers."

"Former? Meaning you're not any longer?"

"I joined the privateers in an attempt to free me flesh and blood – me sweet sister."

"I don't understand you… nor do I believe you…"

"That feckin' leech Vaas sold her to god knows feckin' who before I could get to her. That was three years ago, and here I still am! Lucky for me, he didn't even click onto to the fact that she was me sister… I was gonna' kill the bastard. But I …b…bottled… I'm ashamed to say. So the Rakyat found me, didn't they? And we came to a sweet wee agreement. I pretend to be a privateer, when I'm actually stabbin' the assholes in the back on the sly. In secret I'm one of the Rakyat. Me orders never came from Vaas, I would never take orders from that bag of shit. Me orders come from the Rakyat…I couldn't leave ya with him las."

An animalistic growl seeped from Katerina's shrivelled lips; she jolted the gun in her hand, stepping closer and barking "enough of the bullshit!"

"That's the truth las!" the yelling Irishman protested, slowly dropping to his knees with his hands elevated in the air. Katerina watched the clusters of sweat dribble down his skin, with a heavy, rounded lump poking in out his neck – soon to sluggishly slither down his throat.

"You have to be lying! The Rakyat captured us! They tortured us for fucks sake! Tell me, _Declan_, if that even is your fucking name! How are you going to get out of that one? Go ahead, explain that! You have five seconds…"

"Woa! Las, no, please! I swear, on me precious wee sister, that's the truth. All of it is the whole feckin' truth! None of it a lie las, I swear! I wouldn't lie to do ya, would I? Eh? The pirates did this to me eye alright! One of Hoyt's feckin' assholes. I'm not lyin'! Ya know that, don't ya? Me wee humble soul wouldn't tell ya no fabrications! Please las, think about what ya doin!"

"Five."

"I rescued ya for fecks sake! Ya would be shaking, and bleeding out right now if it weren't for me!"

"Four."

"Fuck! Las, please. Me and you, we had a cheery good hoot, did we not? A few drinks, and a good time... I've treated ya with nothing but kindness and respect, have I not las?"

"Three."

"Ya not gonna' do me like this. Not like em' – shooting me like a dumb, sick mutt. Ya not gonna' do that to me wee little humble self, are ya las?"

"T...two."

Declan's eye jolted to the floor, as if search for a grain of sand or a speckle of grinded rock. The gun juddered chaotically in Katerina's hand - her pounding heart ready to burst from her chest. Why was this so difficult? Vaas would do it! Why couldn't she? The sting of tears made her eyes itch – creating that eerie burn to simmer behind her quick, glassy orbs. He was nothing to her…. She could do it. She had to be strong – he could betray her, even kill her, if she turned around and left him now.

Katerina closed her eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks as she whipped her head away, extending her arm and resting her finger reluctantly on the ice trigger. _Do it! Just pull it!_ Her thoughts bawled wildly at her, with a muster of pricking tears bleeding out from her closed eyes.

"My actual name is Christian Campbell." The man glumly confessed, with not a hint of Irish twang to his words. Katerina lowered the gun, and pried her eyes open – looking across to the man who bowed his head to the ground, with inquisitiveness and uncertainty brewing in her glowing, solemn sheep eyes. A look of anguish came over her, in which her eyebrows fell into a frown, with her lips drooping in the corners. His robotic words continued, with a hint of dishonour and shame shaking in his voice, "I heard of this uncharted island about four years ago, when just a young lad, and was intrigued. I heard of people who had loved ones vanish from the face of the earth, and pitied them. I have no siblings, and no relatives or friends who have been dragged into peril by any pirates on this island. I do know, however, of this island's cruelty and dishonourable scheme. Vaas Montenegro has been on my hit list, you can say, for some time - him and a few others. I find it disgusting that things like this go on. When I heard of the conflict between the Rakyat people and the pirates, I felt that I had to get involved. I do work for the Rakyat, and have been working with them for at least three years in secrecy. I had to find a way to get at Vaas – I admit, I'm far from a ruthless type, and would fail miserable against Vaas Montenegro, so I had to look for a scapegoat so that I could go through with the plans, given to me by the Rakyat people. By bringing you to the Rakyat, Jason Brody has a chance of catching Vaas of guard, thus ending the malicious bastard once and fall all. It's for the greater good, don't you see? Killing Vaas Montenegro will give you peace; set you free – at last. It will benefit us all."

Katerina began shaking her head, biting onto her lip with tears streaming from her eyes. How could he? How could he does this to her? She trusted him! She trusted him – how could he? The man looked up at her, with a sorrowful, apologetic manner to his guise. Katerina ignored it! All she could see was the vile face of cruel deceit! How could he do this?

"I pity you Katerina," he sighed softly, his shoulders dropping with his arms lowering, "just look what he has done to you – what this fucking island has done to you. The purity and light has been viciously ripped out of you. You are infested with a sickness – the maddening sickness of this island. It has destroyed you! Vaas has destroyed you! Look what he has done to you. He has broken you. Vaas has destroyed everything…"

An ear-splitting explosion crackled in the jungle air, with startled birds squawking and screeching as they soared away from the trees – flapping their heavy wings with the moaning, whooshing wind, and fluttering away into the horizon as quickly as light. A pool of thick, red blood, thick as yogurt, oozed along the yellow road, gushing towards Katerina's feet and swallowing up the grey rucksack that sank into the dirt. The whimpering of a man could be heard from the ground – panting and wheezing like a sick dog – a vile mutt.

Katerina did not look back to him – not give him a second pitiful glance. There was one focus that shrouded her mind, and she had to accomplish it! Though as she stumbled away, sniffling and smearing away the tears that clung to her check and eyes, she felt an agonising crumpling sensation in her chest. Her stomach emptied and swallowed her up like a black hole. She thought she was going to be sick! The sickly whimpers of the dying man in the dirt made her skin crawl – but she did not look back. He did not deserve her glance, nor did he deserve her pity…

She followed the explosions, and the clatters of screams and hoarse grunts. The shrill sounds echoed of the trees. She was reluctant, but knew she had to follow it – she had no choice! It was something she had to do!

When bolting figures, and the orange glow of flames came into view, a suffocating sensation, wickedly slithered its way up Katerina's body, triggering her limbs to fail her. She stumbled to the floor, jerking away from the blasts of bullets and taking cover behind a shielding tree on the hill. The battle field below her was terrifying. A part of her didn't want to go down. What if she was killed? She hadn't been trained for stuff like this! Say she was crippled from a shattering blast to the leg? Or paralyzed from a shot to her spine? She could simply dart into the roaring battle, and be shot in the head before she could gently touch her trigger. How many bullets did she even have? It was useless! What if this went terribly wrong? What if Hoyt captured her again? What if…

The husky yells of battle fury interrupted Katerina from her racing, rapid thoughts. Had someone spotted her? With her heart beating faster than it had ever pounded before, Katerina cautiously peered her head around the tree, to glimpse at what could be rushing towards her. In less than a second she snapped her head back, splinters of shattered tree bark gushing up into the air, with a loud bang erupting from the mouth a gun. He was coming! She didn't know, nor care who it was, but simply knew that someone was rushing towards her – pink and flushed, with his splotchy red face shrivelled up into a snarl. He roared, screeching like a mad dog.

"Come on Kat," Katerina yapped to herself, gripping tightly onto her gun, with her finger resting on the trigger. She could feel the shivers spreading across her body. Sense the sickening twist in her gut. _One moment of fear then it would be over! _She told herself, gasping for air and she readied herself. _You can do this. Don't be afraid. _

For a second she thought that she had erupted into a wail of screams when she pointed her gun at him, hammering the trigger with her body freezing to stone. _Am I dead?_ Was the first thought that popped into her startled mind, then she looked down to the lifeless body on the floor. She glared at the sack of meat for a moment, trying to remember how many bangs had blasted from her gun. Two? No… one? How could I it have been one? No, definitely two. She felt a sense of achievement as she hastily plucked the man's gun away from his limp, motionless body. How did she do that? He was armed, and howling with an insane fury, and yet, she managed to rise up victorious! She couldn't stop the trivial grin that stretched to her cheeks. Had she really done that?

She shook her head vigorously – a look of determination masking her face, as she slunk deeper into the camp; following those treacherous, deafening explosions, like how a small child would seek to follow the scent and clues of discarded sweets. She knew what she had to do; only hoping that she could do it cleanly… and in one piece.

Perhaps it was conscience, if not that, then sheer luck, as she took cover behind a bulky, square crate in the mist of that perilous field of explosions, and deadly gunshots. Men thought against each other further up the long, blood-stained path, in that horrid camp she was stuck in. She did not know who was fighting, nor what drove them to tug out their guns – but she knew that they were fighting to the death, and being scrambled up in the cross-fire would, without a doubt, prove to be deadly. But as Katerina crouched behind that crate, jerking from the flying splinters of wood, and bullet shells that hurdled in the air, she caught glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. It was like, for that moment, the whole world stood still – everything around her slowed down, with bullets not zooming, but slowly floating in the air, like drifting leaves.

"Vaas!" she screamed, grasping onto the crate and screeching out Vaas' name with all the air she had stored in her lungs. She screamed his name so loud, it ripped her throat, and delivered a tug, punch-like pain to her stomach. Tears brimmed her eyelashes, with a relieved grin stretching to her cheeks, when the wonderfully crazy pirate lord, snapped his head to her direction.

A look of astonishment and apprehension splashed across his face, as he ducked zooming bullets, resting his hand on the ground as he looked up to Katerina. Dirt splashed up from the earth, with splinters of material spurting through the air, whenever a firing bullet penetrated into the ground, or smashed against an object. Vaas got down on all fours, and rushed through the eruptions of gunshots like a determined animal dashing towards prey. Katerina's breath became trapped in her throat, as she anxiously watched him hurry towards her.

"What the fuck are you doing amada?" he barked, throwing his hands to her face and shoving his lips onto hers before she could let a word slip from her tongue. Katerina instantly tumbled onto her back, with Vaas resting above her - he knocked her stunned, petite body to the floor when he leapt towards her, with his lips glued to Katerina's and with his hands cupping her skull and caressing her jawline; stoking her hair. "You're so stupid Kat!" he scolded, pulling his lips away for a short moment but then shoving them back to her mouth, swooning her with his sensuality and tenderness. "You're so fuckin' stupid!" he repeated, still kissing her, with his hands wrapped around her face. Katerina grasped onto his skull, returning his kisses with the dance of her tongue. Both, for that short moment, were oblivious to the lethal eruptions of gunshots - firing in mad, deadly directions around them.

"It's not safe here amada!" he cautioned, with the gentle shake of Katerina's head. He gazed directly into Katerina's bright eyes, which glimmered with the glittering shine of tears; his forehead nearly colliding against her face.

Katerina shook her head, pursing her lips with tear droplets slowly trickling from her glassy eyes. Vaas tenderly smeared away a tear with the gentle stroke of his thumb – Katerina smiled, reaching up her fingers and coiling them around Vaas' hand, which rested on her face.

"You're going to die if you stay here," Katerina snuffled, tears spilling down her face with her heart wrenching out from her chest, "where will that leave me, huh?"

Vaas suddenly tugged Katerina to his chest, hugging her shuddering, sobbing body into him, with his hand cupping her skull. "Where will that leave me?" Katerina repeated, between crackled sobs. Not caring for the sting that Vaas' shirt caused, when scuffing against her wounded cheek.

"You're meant to be somewhere safe amada," Vaas sighed, his eyes locked on his surrounding, wary to anyone who could come lurching around the corner, "so you can have a chance."

"I'll take my chances with you," Katerina snivelled, lifting her head from Vaas' chest and glancing up to him, with her hand stroking the border of his chiselled jaw, "I'm safer when you're with me. You know that. You can't make me leave this time…not this time."

Vaas craned his neck to press his lips against Katerina's for another time, but instead rammed her to the floor, pouncing to his feet and diving like an animal through the air. Katerina, picked herself up quickly, reaching for her gun and snapping her head towards Vaas, who was at a man, driving a knife into his neck. Another came round the corner, but he wasn't a pirate. Katerina recognised them - the coarse, tanned skin and the tribal tattoos speckled all over their wide bodies. Rakyat.

Katerina took hold of her gun and pointed it at the man, but let out a sharp grunt and fell to the floor, crashing down on her stomach and face with a loud thud. A wave of stifling pain struck her, as she felt a pair of hands yank at her ankles. She ignored the pain; swivelling her body around swiftly, with a grunt of agony slipping from her lips, which blood now trickled from. The man was perched over her, waving his knife beside her face, as Katerina battled him and shook him away with her arms and the rattle of her body. Her hand flashed to the lunatic's head, where she tugged and twisted viciously at the lad's hair. He squealed, thrusting his knife closer to Katerina's flesh. She watched with keen, anxious eyes, as the man's face grew red – flushed at the cheeks, with a flash of pink flooding in his broad nose.

He was off her as soon as Vaas noted him, with a shower of red spurting out from the lunatic's body. Vaas tugged Katerina to her feet with a gentle yet firm yank of her arm. He held her body beside his waist, securely wrapping his robust arm around her, with his and her body in a crouch-like state.

"I think about now is a good time to get out of here," Vaas snorted with a playful smirk, "What do you think amada?"

"I'm right behind you," Katerina panted, looking up to Vaas with a grin. Her eyebrows fell into a sulk when she analysed his face. Blood dribbled from his forehead, seeping from a graze above his eyebrow – on the opposite side of his scar. "You're hurt?" she gasped, restlessness making her voice ecstatic.

Vaas chuckled and tenderly brushed the string of blood away from Katerina's chin with his knuckle. "I'm hurt?" he snorted sarcastically, but then he turned slightly more solemn, with a hint of remorse creeping in his voice, "amada, you're the one who is hurt. Now let's get the fuck out of here."

Vaas' hold around Katerina was secure, with his touch warm and comforting to her. The hissing wind frolicked in Katerina's spiralling hair, as Vaas quickly dragged her through the camp, whizzing in and out of cover – ducking and dodging explosions and perilous bullets – with each swift step. All Katerina eyes locked on was Vaas. Studying his attentive eyes, and the arch in his eyebrows. A sense of serenity swept over her. Despite being locked in a battle zone, she at last felt calm; idyllic. As long as Vaas was with her, how could anything go wrong?

The crunching of leaves and shrivelled grass beneath Katerina's feet crackled in the air, with muffled murmurs of brash bangs and shattering explosions echoing in the distance. Vaas dragged Katerina behind him, hastily marching through the jungle – through the towering trees and through the lush, chaotic jungle foliage.

"How are you feeling?" he asked brusquely from behind his shoulder.

Katerina looked up and ceased her fixation on the shade of green beneath her feet. "I'm well enough," she muttered, stumbling over a broad tree root that had surged from the soil. Her body went plummeting through the air; her foot catching behind bark. Katerina grimaced – reading herself for a callous smack from the ground. Though all she felt was the sincere, protecting embrace from a set of arms, tenderly coiling around her, and holding her dangling body up from the ground. Vaas lifted her up with a chuckle - balancing her back on her feet. He took her head in his hand, and studied the depth, and exquisiteness of her crimson eyes.

"You have to be more careful," he chuckled; his thumb caressing her cheek.

"I would, if you didn't leave me in the hands of malevolent assholes."

Vaas' face suddenly dropped into a frown. His eyes darted to the floor, his lip drooping in the corners with an expression of contriteness and melancholy casting over him. When his eyes finally glanced up to look upon her face, they were glowing with discontent and remorse. His pupils seemed to expand and grow more prominent with repentance. He seemed as if he was going to speak, with a lump in his throat bobbing up and down like a nodding apple submerged in water. Katerina awaited a moment when his lips would open, but the only movement that occurred was the slow, gentle motion of his hand, in which he carefully brushed back a strand of Katerina's raven black hair, twisting the strand in his fingers before placing it behind her ear.

A thunderous bang made Katerina jump with fright, with a rush of shivers gushing up her body, and tingling her spine. Subconsciously, she fell closer to Vaas, with her body knocking against his firm torso; with her fingertips apprehensively twisting a clump of his red vest. Vaas held her close, fretfully scanning around him with a snappish turn of his head. His hand clutched tighter onto Katerina; his hand swiftly slipping to her arm.

Katerina was still anxiously peering around her with worried, squinting eyes, when Vaas yanked at her arm, heaving her startled, confused body behind him as he raced deeper into the jungle, with a treacherous speed that made her teeth on edge.

Panic consumed her – hairs on her neck becoming stiff, and poking out in the air. Fearsome yells and roaring gunshots followed them like vicious wolves. She felt like prey – weak, vulnerable and helpless. Tighter and tighter her grasp on Vaas became, but still this horrid sensation gnawed away at her. She hated it! She hated this barbaric, uncharted island!

Katerina was so focused on Vaas that she failed to see where they were heading. A stifled grunt erupted from her lips when Vaas came to a sudden, unannounced, brusque stop, catching Katerina in his arms to stop her from stumbling over him. She peered what was below her with widening, alarmed eyes. Inches away from Vaas' boot, was the edge of their road – a sickening cliff, with a deep blue abyss below. There was no cover – no trees or foliage. Nothing! The forest was behind them, and they couldn't go back there… not anymore. There was a hushed hiss from flowing waves of water. It whispered like silent ghosts in Katerina's ears.

Vaas spiralled around, slowly, shoving Katerina behind him and shielding her, with his arm constantly wrapped around her torso. Emerging from the field of trees, were a flock of men – their quivering hands pressed against ebony rifles, with the weapon poking out from their shrinking bodies. They glared at the soiled ground, unwilling to look the pirate lord in the eye. All of them bore striking, black tribal tattoos. And all of them, looked to one individual appearing from the forest of trees and saplings.

A chuckle rumbled in Vaas throat, with his hand slowly slipping off from Katerina's skin. Katerina balanced on her tiptoes, pressing her hand on Vaas' shoulder and peeking over it. Occasionally she glanced behind her, analysing the drop behind her heel – studying the ripples of blue liquid at the bottom, with gushes of hissing, biting water cascading down the side. This was no cliff. It was a waterfall!

"So," Vaas began, clicking his tongue and straining his neck as a low chuckle hissed through his teeth, "Fucking snow white, decided to show his little bullshit, Californian face, eh? You know I've missed you. Missed our fun little chats. It was good, it was fun."

Katerina snapped her head back to the crowd of people surrounding her and the feisty pirate she held onto. A man approached them, high growls dribbling from the corners of his twisted mouth. His dark, shaggy hair flicked out chaotically, with a shade of facial hair trailing up his jaw and along his chin and mouth. His arm played the canvas for many intriguing tattoos, with his pale blue shirt enduring several tears, rips and speckles of dried blood. Katerina recognised him. She recognised the hidden serenity in his face – even if it was heavily shrouded with a venomous contempt and lunacy.

"Let the girl go, so we can settle this." He growled, furiously drawing his hand into a fist, with the other hand tightening around a machete, which chillingly dripped with blood that flooded the lushness in the grass, when thick, red droplets bitterly crashed against it. Vaas gave no reply; only cocking his head and clicking his tongue against his teeth.

The man lifted his head and looked towards the girl who cowered behind Vaas' shoulder. He motioned her to come forward with the click of his head, but she didn't budge. Why would she? Was he insane?

"Kat," the man pleaded softly, sending a wave of bewilderment to sweep over her as she eyed him with a puzzling, attentive gaze. "Kat, come on. It's me. Fuck…"

A wicked snarl flooded the man's face, in which he lifted his machete and waved it provokingly in the air, "you sick fuck!" he spat, furrowing his brows and taking one step closer to Vaas who watched him with amusement, "what the fuck have you done to her? You let her go right now, or I swear Vaas, I will kill you!"

"Really?" Vaas tormented sarcastically, with an odd humour jolting in his voice, "and here's me thinking that was your intentions all along. Wow! You really must be a heavy piece of chicken shit. Go on, pretty boy, cluck, cluck cluck away. Go back to my sister, and lap up her deceit. Just don't go waving your piece of shit, _toy_, in my face!"

Katerina studied the man's face. Who was he? She just needed a name. One call of his name and she was sure to remember him, for sure.

"You're not really here for the girl," Vaas teased, with a smirk, "now are you, Jason?"

Katerina's eyes widened. It all came flooding back to her. The boat. The beach. Her dream! Every distant memory crashed down onto her, chocking her with its consuming intensity. She remembered it all! By god! He did look different. The innocent light had scratched out from his eyes. The immaturity ripped out of him. The serenity burned into ash, and tossed into the sea. There was a fire in his eyes – they were burning with ire; ready to sear into his skull. His guise made her tremble. Not for fear of herself, but fear of the man she held onto. Everyone pointed a gun to him! She gaged to the shivers scuttling up her skin. She quivered to the sickening blow in her stomach. She snivelled to the fear that engulfed her.

She could feel Vaas slowly pulling away from her. Tears spilled out from her eyes, with gasps bursting from her trembling lips. She tugged her back to him, with her throbbing fingers digging into his skin – straining to hinder him.

"Vaas!" she gasped, stifled from whimpers that cruelly crawled up her throat.

When Vaas looked over his shoulder to gaze at her, she saw something. It was the glimmer in his eyes – like the ripples of water. "I can't swim," she whispered fretfully.

Vaas stared at her with a look of great confusion. Katerina could see Jason's grip around his weapon becoming tighter from the corner of her eye – with his body moving perilously closer. She had to do it!

Katerina held her breath, snappishly spinning around, looking the abyss directly in its petrifying face. The water hissed and moaned as it fell down the rocks. The ripples and pools of white water gushing up in the air below. Vaas frantically bellowed out Katerina's name, trying to reach for her, but the flick of his hand was not swift enough. She didn't scream, only tightened her eyes and ceased her breath, when she threw her body off from the cliff.


End file.
